JENNY MACKLIN & BOB DEBUS ANNOUNCE TWO NEW CHILD CARE CENTRES FOR MACQUARIE UNDER A RUDD LABOR GOVERNMENT
15th November 2007

A Rudd Labor Government will build two new child care centres in Hazelbrook and Faulconbridge to help address the chronic shortage of child care places facing local families.

Jenny Macklin and Bob Debus, Federal Labor's Candidate for Macquarie made the announcement today while visiting Hazelwood Child Care Centre, in Hazelbrook.

A recent survey of child care centres in the Blue Mountains found that over 300 families were on waiting lists for a child care place – 200 families waiting for a place for a child aged under two.

The Howard Government's own child care 'Hot spots' list identifies both Hazelbrook and Faulconbridge as areas that are in urgent need for more child care places.

Mr Debus said despite the urgent need, the Howard Government had continually ignored the plight of local families who desperately need additional child care.

" Parents, especially mums, are finding it really tough to find a child care place, making it difficult for them to return to work or extend their working hours if they choose to," Mr Debus said today.

Ms Macklin said that Federal Labor was committed to building up to 260 child care centres around Australia in areas of real need – an investment of over $200 million.

" We will place these centres on primary school grounds or community grounds where possible as part of Labor's new approach to child care and early childhood education," Ms Macklin said.

Ms Macklin said that Federal Labor will also provide universal preschool for all Australian four-year olds, an annual investment of $450 million when fully implemented.

Labor will work with the NSW State Government and the community to find suitable locations for the two new centres.

Mr Debus said that he had started discussions with Hazelwood Childcare Centre about the possibility of building a new and expanded centre on their existing site.

Ms Macklin said that Labor wanted to make sure that local families had access to affordable and high quality care.

Federal Labor's Affordable Child Care Plan will:

* Increase the Child Care Tax Rebate to 50 per cent – covering up to $7,500 a year of out-of-pocket costs for each child in child care in NSW*

Pay the 50% Child Care Tax Rebate quarterly - with the goal, subject to the development of delivery mechanisms, of paying the rebate to parents every fortnight.

Ms Macklin said that the Howard Government had done nothing to address spiralling child care costs and done little to address the serious shortage of child care places across the country.

" The local shortage of childcare places is driving up costs for local families" Mr Debus said.

Figures show that families in the Blue Mountains on a medium family income of $66,000 are paying up to $185 per week in out-of-pocket childcare costs for one child in fulltime care.*

Mr Debus said that under Labor's Affordable Childcare Plan, Labor will slash this cost to $92 a week.

This means that families in the Blue Mountains would be up to $37 a week better off, or $1,851 a year better off.

" The Howard Government has denied that there is a child care crisis, instead blaming parents for being too choosy," Ms Macklin said.

" And yet days out from an election Mr Howard announced that he will fund a handful of new centres across Australia - demonstrating that he will say and do anything to win the election".

In addition, Federal Labor will:

* Provide parents with helpful information about local child care centres such as vacancies, fees and quality status so parents are better informed;
* Ensure child care services provide parents with notice about proposed fee increases;
* Implement tough national child care quality standards including a quality improvement system that assesses child care services from A to E and regular unannounced spot checks;
* Invest $73.5 million in incentives and opportunities to improve the qualifications of child care workers to ensure our children receive expert early learning and care.

" The Howard Government has refused to match Labor's plans to make child care more affordable and accessible – demonstrating just how out of touch they are with working families," Ms Macklin said.

Federal Labor understands the pressures facing local families and we will continue to work hard to help them make ends meet.

* Fees provided by childcare operator. Out of pocket costs calculated on fees less childcare benefit based upon medium family income for Hazelbrook – ABS Census, 2006.