Anthony Albanese makes a major pre-election promise to thousands of Aussie families in a desperate bid to win back voters after series of embarrassing blunders
Anthony Albanese hopes to woo voters with a huge pre-election promise to make childcare accessible for every Australian family.
If re-elected, subsidised childcare will no longer depend on how many hours parents work, guaranteeing all families three days of discounted early childhood education.
The proposed Three Day Guarantee to be announced by the Prime Minister in Brisbane on Wednesday, will ensure 70,000 families currently ineligible for subsidies due to so-called ‘activity test’ can access childcare.
Currently, a child can only get a taxpayer-funded spot three days a week if their parent or guardian worked, studied or volunteered 8-16 hours a fortnight.
It’s hoped the pre-election sweetener will win back votes for Mr Albanese, whose popularity has plummeted after a string of blunders.
Last year, he faced a wave of criticism after pushing ahead with the failed Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum.
In October, he caused outrage by splashing $4.3million on a clifftop mansion on the NSW Central Coast in the middle of a housing and cost of living crisis.
Most recently, he’s been grilled for taking two days to call last week’s Melbourne synagogue firebombing a terror attack.
The Prime Minister will say in his speech the changes will ‘ensure every family can afford three days of high-quality early education’, the Herald Sun reported.
Prime Minister Albanese will be pledging subsidised childcare to about 70,000 more Australian families (pictured the Prime Minister at a Brisbane childcare centre in July)
Labor will pledge to scrap the ‘activity test’, meaning families earning up to $530,000 will be guaranteed three days of discounted childcare (pictured a child at a childcare centre)
‘Affordable for every family, funded for every child, building a better education system every step of the way,’ Mr Albanese will say.
Labor’s pledge will guarantee three days of subsidised childcare for every family earning up to $530,000 a year.
For parents who work, study or volunteer for 48 hours or more a fortnight, they will be able to access up to five days of discounted childcare.
It comes after the Productivity Commission earlier this year recommended the fortnightly hour quota be scraped because it was stopping families from working and prevented thousands of children from attending early education.
Mr Albanese will confirm Labor’s plan to ‘build a universal childcare system’ but will clarify it is not ‘compulsory or mandatory’.
‘The choice will be up to parents,’ he will say.
‘But … we want to make sure that your decision isn’t dictated by where you live, or what you do for a living.’
The Prime Minister will add that childcare is driven by ‘one thing only’, which is what a parent wants for their child.
The Albanese government wants every Australian child to have access to ‘high quality early education’ (pictured a stock photo of a childcare centre)
Labor’s upcoming budget is expected to reveal funding for the subsidies increasing to $3.1 billion over the next four years.
Many organisations supported the Productivity Commission’s recommendation, calling the activity test ‘unfair’.
The Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce’s 2023 report also called for the activity test to be abolished, showing research that up to 81,680 women would enter the workplace and increase their hours – boosting the GDP by $4.5 billion a year.
