Tuesday, 31 March 2026

 Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:44): I rise to update the house on how the Allan Labor government is delivering historic investment to build, upgrade and expand early childhood education and care services right across the state. Earlier this month I joined the member for Sydenham to visit the construction site of the future Deanside children’s and community centre. This brand new centre will open next year and will provide kindergarten places for up to 237 local children.

In addition to four kindergarten rooms, the centre will include space for maternal and child health services, consulting rooms, multipurpose community spaces and outdoor play areas. Located just next door to Deanside Primary School, the centre will support children to transition smoothly to prep while helping parents to ditch the dreaded double drop-off. Facilities like this are so important because of how they support families through every stage of their early years, beginning with our universal maternal and child health services and moving into pre-kinder for three- and four-year-olds and transition into prep at the local primary school. It is this type of integrated support that makes such a difference for families in our growing communities like Deanside.

That is why we are proud to be delivering this project through our Building Blocks partnership with the City of Melton. To date, the government has entered into 20 Building Blocks partnerships with local government and the non-government sector. These co-funding partnerships will support 119 new and expanded kindergarten projects, providing more than 15,000 kindergarten places. This is all in addition to delivering more than 100 new and expanded kindergartens on school sites and 50 Early Learning Victoria centres, 18 of which are open as of this year. Over the lifetime of this Labor government, $3.6 billion has been allocated to early childhood infrastructure alone, and this generational investment is a central part of our Best Start, Best Life reforms, supporting more children to attend more hours of kindergarten, easing cost-of-living pressures for families and helping parents and carers get back to work or study if they so choose. Only a Labor government will continue to deliver for children and their families.