Tuesday, 21 June 2022

 Mr ANDREWS (Mulgrave—Premier) (14:07): I am delighted to rise to update the house on the government’s transformation of early childhood education and care. Last week I was very pleased to join the Minister for Early Childhood and the Minister for Women to announce a $9 billion investment over the next decade to expand the Best Start, Best Life program with three major new initiatives—making kinder free across the state from 2023, a very significant support and a very significant decision in the context of the cost of living for families with young kids; delivering a new year of universal pre-prep for four-year-olds; and establishing 50 government-operated low-cost, high-quality childcare centres in what are often referred to as childcare deserts.

This is about meeting demand where the market simply is failing to do so. This reform will ensure that our kids have the skills from play-based education and learning—play, exploring, making friends, learning about the world around them. These are skills that they need—socialisation, all of those skills that are quite obvious. They are not just needed for school, they are needed for life, and the earlier you start the better you finish. That is what all the international evidence tells us. That is what common sense tells you. It is why we are rolling out 15 hours of universal three-year-old kinder and leading the nation and doing it. But we can always do more, we can always go further. And that is why working in close partnership with the New South Wales government we were able to make these announcements—a common statement of intent and purpose. This is a terrific partnership for families, for cost of living, for our youngest Victorians and indeed for those in New South Wales, for their brain development, their life opportunity. It is a very significant boost to economic power for women—them being able to choose and be involved at the level they choose. It is about the best start for the best life.