Interview - ABC News Breakfast

MICHAEL ROWLAND: We bring in now the Education Minister Jason Clare. We will talk about the childcare subsidies in a moment. Minister, good morning, but these antisemitic attacks seem to be getting out of control.

JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: Antisemitism is a poison. In the lifetime of our grandparents, Michael, we've seen the evil that it can wreak, and whilst antisemitism has been around for a very, very long time, certainly the conflict in the Middle East has acted as an accelerant here.

We're a country that is rightly proud of the fact that we're made up of people from all around the world, all different religions and backgrounds, living here in harmony. These sort of horrendous attacks are the absolute opposite of that.

And it's incumbent on all of us, politicians, the media, everybody else, all Australians working together to make sure that this doesn't pull us apart. And be everything that we want ourselves to be, and that is a country that's made up of people from all around the world living in harmony.

ROWLAND: The government has announced the antisemitism task force, it's vowed to chase the offenders and ensure they suffer the full effects of the law, but does more need to be done because we've had this overnight, we've had the synagogue attack in Melbourne on Friday, another attack in Woollahra in Sydney just three weeks ago? Should more action be considered by the Federal Government?

CLARE: We don't rule any action out, Michael, but number one you've got to make sure that we catch the perpetrators of these evil acts.

Number two, we've got to protect the community, protect religious institutions. Places of worship should be sacred and sacrosanct.

Number three, we've got to rebuild the synagogue that was torched to the ground last week, and rebuild community harmony, what I talked about a moment ago. You know, that's being strained and tested at the moment.

We've got to do everything in our power to help to keep our country together.

ROWLAND: Okay. Let's move to the big childcare announcement the Prime Minister will make in Brisbane today. You're ditching the activity test which has proved to be controversial, and challenging for many families, and are guaranteeing families who earn below $530,000 a year, three days of guaranteed childcare. Why are you doing this?

CLARE: It's about making sure that every child in Australia gets access if they need it to three days of government-supported early education and care. It's about making sure that every child gets the best possible start in life.

The evidence is that if a child goes to early education and care then they're more likely to start school ready to learn. The evidence also shows they're more likely to end up finishing high school.

So, at its core that is what it's about; helping to make sure that every child gets the best possible start in life and are ready to start school and ready to learn.

ROWLAND: Do you expect this to be a key issue   it will be a cost of living election   a key issue in the election campaign?

CLARE: I hope that it's supported across the political spectrum. You know, most of us, I think, would agree that every child has a right to go to school and that government has a responsibility to fund that and support that. This is the next step.

It's about saying that every child has a right to early education, so they don't start school behind, so that they start school ready to learn and that government has a responsibility here too.

At the moment, there's some children that are really cut out or locked out of the system, through no fault of their own, because of the circumstances of their parents. They can't get access to three days of early education a week, and that inevitably means that these children start behind the rest of the classroom when they go to kindergarten or prep, and this is about fixing that.

ROWLAND: You're speaking to us from the office in Sydney where the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader often speak. Mr Dutton says that if he's elected Prime Minister he will only stand in front of the Australian flag. He says multiple flags, by that he means the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ flags are too divisive. What do you say to that?

CLARE: Oh mate, I just think that's a distraction. In the last two weeks, he's lost two senior members of his team, the leader of the Liberals in the Senate and the leader of Opposition Business in the House.

He's also lost two of his big policies. He promised tax cuts and now he's broken that promise. He promised to cut migration, now he's broken this promise.

You know, he's breaking promises before he's even elected. This is like buying a second-hand car and it breaks down before it even leaves the lot. What this shows is that Peter Dutton is not ready to govern.

ROWLAND: And finally, the Nine Newspapers are reporting this morning the Prime Minister told Cabinet that he firmly believed News Corp was working with Peter Dutton to constantly attack the government. Did he? And do you believe generally with that sentiment?

CLARE: Nice try, mate, but I don't talk about what happens in Cabinet. My view is that you just focus on the main game and that is the cost of living, supporting Australians who are doing it tough. That's what the tax cuts are all about. That's what everything that we're doing is all about.

ROWLAND: But let's take it outside the Cabinet room. Is it your view as a Minister that you're not getting a fair go from the News Corp papers?

CLARE: You’re not going to get me to go there, mate. It’s like a swimmer criticising the depth of the swimming pool. We just focus on the Australian people and the job that we need to do. We're privileged to have these jobs, privileged to do it every single day and that's what I'm focused on.

ROWLAND: Okay. Jason Clare, really appreciate your time this morning, thank you.

CLARE: Mate, can I thank you as well, just briefly. Thanks for entertaining and informing us over the last 15 years, we're going to miss you.

ROWLAND: Oh, I really appreciate the kind words, Jason, thank you.

CLARE: Thanks mate.