Thursday, 9 February 2023

Early childhood education

Anthony CIANFLONE (Pascoe Vale) (17:29): (40) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep. The action I seek is for the minister to provide the latest update on the Labor government’s Building Blocks partnership with Merri-bek City Council and what this partnership will mean for my constituents of Pascoe Vale.

In my first speech last night I spoke about how I am the proud product of local public education, having attended Coburg West Primary School. However, I was also one of the many children at that time –namely, from non-English-speaking migrant families – who simply were not in a position to afford, let alone understand, the benefits of sending their children to a local kinder. Today as the local member and also as a local dad I know just how much local families value the quality of local kinders, because it is local kinders that first shape and inspire the minds and future life chances of what we value and care for the most: the most precious assets, our children and young people. With 90 per cent of a child’s brain developing before the age of five, early education has a profound effect on the way our kids develop. That is why as the new local member I will be doing everything I can to ensure we invest to support the rollout of free three- and four-year-old kinder across the community, so that regardless of background or circumstances all families and children will have the chance to access a quality kinder while saving families $2500 per year.

That is why I was delighted to join the minister back on 22 August last year to help announce that an Andrews Labor government will be investing a record $10.7 million to expand and upgrade 11 kinders across Merri-bek. Starting with $500,000 towards upgrading the Turner Street kinder, this infrastructure pipeline will support the creation of a massive 329 extra funded kinder places across Merri-bek by 2029. This landmark partnership between the state Labor government and council will help families in Pascoe Vale, Coburg and Brunswick West to access high-quality early childhood education that is closer to home. As of 2019, 89 per cent of eligible local children were participating in four-year-old kinder, and these investments will go a long way, along with free kinder, to helping us increase that take-up rate even further. By 2036 it is anticipated that a further 3000 zero- to four-year-olds will call Merri-bek home, and so this local Building Blocks partnership will provide a strong foundation for future investments that will be required for even more demand down the track.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank all the early education childhood workers from across my electorate for their good work, including those that taught my two daughters Raffaella and Cleopatra for their local kinder and childcare years. I am proud to be part of a Labor government that is championing early childhood education and look forward to the minister’s response.