Back in 2020, Anthony Albanese lay a foundation stone that created a credible path to the office of Prime Minister. It wasn’t accepted wisdom at the time, even within Labor. Certainly there was no sign the coalition registered a meaningful threat.
But the $5 billion+ commitment to early childhood education and care that the then-Opposition leader Albanese announced in his Budget Reply on 7th October 2020 was a turning point that helped render a federal Labor government inevitable. Compelling policy and politically astute, it was a landmark flag in the sand that met the moment.
Women in Australia were reeling at the time. It was women who had borne the disproportionate burden of job and income losses when Covid first hit. They were overrepresented in the lower-paid, essential frontline roles like nursing, early education, schools, aged care, roles they fulfilled without a dot of protection from vaccination.
Women absorbed most of the surge in the demands of unpaid domestic work as lockdowns took effect: the additional cooking, cleaning, caring, supervising of remote learning. Financially, mentally, physically, emotionally and logistically the early months of pandemic ravaged women. Covid lay bare and exacerbated the fault lines of gender inequity in our communities.
With this backdrop, the Morrison government allocating $240million – out of more than $500 billion – to women’s economic security in the (then) biggest-spending Budget in history was indefensible. The condemnation was swift. From economists, business leaders, academics, doctors, lawyers, journalists, politicians and advocates across a range of sectors and organisations. The atmosphere online turned febrile and the Federal government dug in. “Women can take advantage of driving on the new infrastructure and roads,” was offered as a serious counter.
The abject disregard for women the government’s Budget demonstrated with spectacular clarity piqued seeds of combustible rage, while the dogged dismissal of legitimate criticism provided the match. The fire that ensued was dangerous.
To the naked eye what could have been misconstrued as a small spotfire, a flash in the pan, lit embers that glowered. From October 2020, Scott Morrison was on notice when it came to women. Every incident from that point on that revealed him as a leader disinclined to contemplate, let alone accept, gender inequity proved flammable. By March 2021 the embers had taken flight and the Prime Minister was engulfed. For a man unwilling to hold a hose the flames were politically fatal.
But, Scott Morrison’s political self-immolation was dependent upon there being a viable alternative. At the very moment Morrison showed women just how little he cared about their safety and economic security, Anthony Albanese made women the priority in his Budget reply, not as a ‘footnote’ or worthy only of platitude. He spoke with sincerity, nuance and understanding about the economic reality women face, and he tabled a targeted, meaningful policy to address it.
‘If I’m PM I’ll make quality, affordable high quality early education universal,’ the Opposition Leader said.
“We have to make sure women aren’t forced to choose between their family and their jobs. Working mothers should be able to afford child care for their kids. It’s as simple as that.”
‘This is not welfare. This is structural reform,’ he added.
Eighteen months later at the 2022 Federal Election, that $5 billion early childhood education and care policy was Labor’s biggest financial pledge. While in May 2021 the Coalition put more money on the table for early childhood education and care, they didn’t go close to Labor.
Despite the narrative ahead of the 21st of May that there was no discernible difference between the major parties, when it came to matters relating to safety, equity and respect for women, there was a chasm. Labor committed to implementing the full Respect at Work report, to introducing 10 days of paid domestic and family violence leave and to invest billions in making early education and care more affordable.
The electoral results were compelling. Between Labor, the Greens and the successful Independent candidates – a significant majority of Australians endorsed commitments on meaningful action to address gender equity.
In May 2022 women weren’t just angry: they were analytical. They were unwilling to accept rhetoric or platitudes. A decision Anthony Albanese made in October 2020 to offer reform meant he could credibly argue that a government he led would not overlook the structural inequity women face.
A week short of the second anniversary of that commitment the Education minister Jason Clare and Early Education and Care minister Dr Anne Aly introduced the Cheaper Childcare legislation in parliament.
It means that from 1 July 2023, over a million families in Australia will have access to much more affordable early childhood education and care. Grattan Institute estimates this will lead to 8% more hours being worked by second-earners with young children (aka mostly mums).
Put another way this is about 220,000 extra days worked in Australia every week, mostly by mothers who are currently working part-time – which is the equivalent of 44,000 extra full-time workers.
There is work to be done to ensure that the early education workforce is properly supported and able to absorb the additional demand. Wages for early educators must be addressed.
But the fact this legislation is on the table is significant. That it’s being championed by an Education Minister and Early Childhood Education Minister who both recognise the critical importance of quality early learning to the development and education of children is massive.
That it was developed with the now-Social Services minister, Amanda Rishworth, and was explicitly backed by the Prime Minister as a legacy-creating policy, is monumental.
There is reason for genuine hope that meaningful – long overdue – reform of early childhood education and care is within our grasp. Not just to make early learning more affordable, but to make it accessible to every child regardless of where they live or what their parents earn, and to ensure it is delivered by a properly paid and well-supported workforce.
That’s a game-changing reform that will deliver for children, for families, for educators, for women and the nation.