Interview - SKY News
KIERAN GILBERT: To some other news, Labor has pledged $1 billion to build 160 new child care centres as part of its 2025 re-election campaign. Under the plan announced yesterday, families will be able to access child care subsidies for up to three days a week.
A little earlier, I spoke to the Education Minister, Jason Clare, and I started with the fact that subsidised child care will abolish the so-called activity test. And I asked him, why is that the case?
JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: We're doing two things, Kieran. A three day guarantee to make sure that every child gets the best possible start in life. We know that what happens in centres like this isn't about changing nappies, it's about changing lives. That the early education children get in centres like this helps to get them ready for school. And at the moment, some kids are missing out. They're cut out of the system because their parents can't get the government-funded support. So, we've got to fix that.
The other thing that we announced yesterday is a $1 billion fund to build more centres in places where they don't exist. What are called child care deserts in the regions and in the outer suburbs.
So, you've got to build supply, but you've also got to make sure that every child gets a great start in life. And that involves making sure that every child gets access to early learning in centres like this.
GILBERT: Yeah, that makes sense. But when you're using taxpayer dollars for subsidies, shouldn't there be an activity test? Shouldn't those receiving the subsidies show that they're either working, learning or trying to find a job?
CLARE: Well, the system at the moment is built around the needs of the parents to help them get back to work. But this is also about extending that to the needs of our children to make sure that they've got the skills that they need to be ready for school.
If a child is in early learning, in early education, the fact is, mate, that they're more likely to be ready to start learning when they start kindergarten or prep and they're more likely to finish high school. That means they're more likely to go on to TAFE, they're more likely to go on to university. Those kids that aren't finishing high school at the moment, they're the same kids who are falling behind or starting behind when they're little in primary school. And guess what? They're almost always the same kids that aren't getting access to early childhood education and care. So, if we're serious about funding the system based on the needs of the child, then we've got to make sure that every child gets a fair crack. And that's what this is about.
GILBERT: Yeah. Building more centres makes sense as well. You've got to boost the supply, but co-existing them with schools. This was a program that Kim Beazley promised back in the day. Kevin Rudd was delivering it. Julia Gillard scrapped it after just 38 centres were built. Was that a mistake by Julia Gillard in those days to not pursue the construction of child care centres alongside schools, avoiding the so-called double drop-off?
CLARE: That's happening now. If you have a look at what NSW is doing or the Victorian governments are doing, they're building centres on primary school grounds. It makes a lot of sense for parents. What we're saying is we want to build in the outer suburbs and the regions and where we can work with state governments to put them on primary school grounds as well. The fact that the Liberals have come out yesterday opposing this, I think pulls the mask off the Liberals and exposes them for what they are. Peter Dutton says that he wants to help the outer suburbs and the regions. And then when we announce a $1 billion fund to build more child care centres where they're needed in the outer suburbs and in the regions, they come out and attack it. I noticed that David Littleproud and the Nationals didn't attack it. They know how important this is. But it shows just how out of touch the Libs are.
GILBERT: On another area of your responsibility, $3 billion wiped off HECS debts. Will those with the debts be aware of what's gone on here? Do they have to log on to find out the fact that their debt is now lower than what it was just 24 hours ago?
CLARE: Yeah, good question, Kieran. This is all happening right now. It started happening yesterday and it will continue today. Three million Aussies right across the country are going to see their HECS debts wiped either today or the next day or over the next few weeks. And so, I'm encouraging everybody to go on MyGov and check their HECS debt to make sure that it's dropped. People will remember that HECS debts went up last year because of the inflation spike. We passed legislation to fix that, to wipe out what happened last year and make sure that it never happens again. That legislation was passed through the Parliament a couple of weeks ago and now the ATO are acting and cutting everyone's HECS debt. If you've got an average HECS debt today of, say, 27 grand, you should see your HECS debt cut today by around about $1,200. And if we win the next election, we'll cut your debt by a further 20 per cent. That means for that person with an average HECS debt will cut their HECS debt by a further 5,500 bucks. So, that's a big deal. That's almost $7,000 of HECS debt cut for someone with an average student loan today.
GILBERT: We've got big news on the media front today. Your colleague Michelle Rowland and also, Stephen Jones, the Assistant Treasurer, confirming a bit later, we understand that Meta, the big tech companies will be forced to pay media companies for the journalism that they use on their, on their services, on their digital platforms. Was this a no-brainer for the Federal Government given we have to preserve Australian content?
CLARE: Yeah, I think that's right. Australian media, Australian journalism is vital. But what's a no-brainer is that if you do a job, you should get paid for it. If someone uses your work, then they should have to pay to use it. And Meta's making a motza out of the sort of work that you do, and Australian journalists are doing right around the country. The current Code has limitations, and you'll see Michelle and Stephen talk about that at their press conference a little later today.
GILBERT: You've got finally, one of your opponents announced the Greens have put up a very strong critic of Israel. Pro-Palestinian campaigner. Is this a vulnerability for you heading into the election just a few months away now?
CLARE: I don't take any votes in my local community for granted. I've had the privilege to represent the people of Western Sydney now for a long time and I'll fight hard for every single vote at the next election. I know that my community is hurting. The conflict in the Middle East affects my community in a way that affects very few communities across the country. Because to be frank, the dead bodies that you see on television almost every night are sometimes family or friends of the people in my community. We've been calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East now for over a year. We voted for it again in the UN just in the last few hours. That's what's happening on the global stage. But you know, I’m focused on local issues that affect my community too, like making sure that we get a post office in Auburn, making sure we get an Urgent Care Clinic in Bankstown, and making sure that 24,000 people who live in my electorate get their HECS debt cut. That's the sort of stuff that I'm doing. That's the sort of stuff that only a Labor Government would ever deliver.
GILBERT: Well, on this issue, you've been criticised, the government for increasing even further the difference between the US approach and the Israeli approach at the UN and our voting. It's been suggested that it's increasing the antisemitism we're seeing in Australia. What do you say to that criticism of the government's approach?
CLARE: The way we voted in the UN last week was the same way that John Howard voted in the UN as well. We voted the same way as about 156 other countries, including the Poms, the Kiwis, the Canadians, the Germans, the Italians, the French, all of Europe. Everybody, I think, that looks at this. Anyone with a brain, anyone with a heart would want the killing and the suffering in the Middle East to stop. That's why we've called for a ceasefire. That's why we've voted for a ceasefire now for over a year. You know, the only political party in Australia at the moment that's against a ceasefire, that's voted against a ceasefire is the Liberal Party. I just can't understand why. Surely there's got to come a time, there's got to come a point where even the Liberal Party will say, enough is enough and the killing has to stop.
GILBERT: Jason Clare thanks for your time.