Transcript - Today with Sarah Abo

SARAH ABO, HOST: Well, after a jam‑packed, breathless and robust three days, the Treasurer's Economic Roundtable has finally come to an end.  But with so many suits, spats and egos in one room, just how productive was it? 

For more we are joined now by Education Minister, Jason Clare, in Sydney. Good morning to you, Jason, I'm obviously being cheeky there. But the point was to improve productivity, yet the Productivity Commissioner has said that hasn't quite been achieved. So there is still a long way to go. 

JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: Of course there is, but it starts with listening. I remember my mum telling me you're born with two ears and one mouth, you should spend twice the amount of time listening as you do talking. 

ABO: Good point. 

CLARE: Politicians often fail at that. I think if you get people in a room, you find where people agree, then that can be the basis for some big, long‑lasting reform. 

ABO: All right. We saw a war of words between Jim Chalmers and the Opposition's Ted O'Brien, who accused the Treasurer of plunging the nation into further debt. 

So do you agree with Chalmers that raiding super is the answer? 

CLARE: I wouldn't frame it that way, Sarah. I think the point I'd make is this: we've got to focus on delivering the things we promised to the Australian people. We've got to focus on continuing to make sure we've got interest rates coming down, that unemployment is low, that we've got wages growing. All of that's happening, that's good news.  

But we've also got to deal with the challenges that are coming at us if we want to make sure the economy's stronger in the future. 

One of the things that I'm responsible for as part of that is making sure that more kids finish school and they get a crack at TAFE or at university. The more skills we have as a workforce, the more productive ultimately we'll be. 

ABO: We'll come to that, Jason. 

CLARE: And that's just one of the reforms discussed there. 

ABO: Well, eventually all those students will end up having jobs and paying super, right; so are you going to raid unrealised gains on super? 

CLARE: I think Jim has made the point that we're intending to go forward with those reforms. What we want is people to be able to retire with dignity, with enough money to be able to have the retirement they've earned and that they deserve. 

ABO: I suppose most of the Government's predetermined proposals were pushed forward during this roundtable, right; the EV tax, housing approval reform. Did you really need a three‑day talkfest to lock in your own agenda? 

CLARE: I don't think it's about that, it's about hearing from other people as well. For example, I know it's a slightly different topic, but in about an hour or so I'll meet with Education Ministers across the country on the sort of reforms that we need to make to keep our kids safe in childcare. 

Now you don't get the sort of reforms that are needed unless you get people around a table, and that's true whether it's reforms to the economy or whether it's reform for childcare centres. 

ABO: All right. Well, let's get on to that, because I know that that is obviously your portfolio. 

So we know that the Victorian Government has decided that it will implement those 22 recommendations made when it comes to childcare and ensuring the safety of children is put first. Shouldn't that be rolled out nationally? 

CLARE: Well, this is an important meeting today. I think Australians were sickened by the revelations out of Victoria, and they expect us to act. 

We've already passed laws, Sarah, through the Federal Parliament, that give us the power to cut off funding to child care centres that aren't meeting safety standards. We're already using those powers against 37 centres across the country, and there's more to come. 

What we'll be talking about today is establishing a National Educator Register so we know who's working where and when they move from centre to centre, or from state to state. Mandatory education training, or mandatory child safety training for every worker in our centres. 

In a sense, they're our best asset here. 99.9 per cent of the people who work in our centres are awesome people who love our kids and care and educate for our kids. They need the sort of skills to be able to spot somebody who might be hiding in plain sight up to no good. 

But we'll also be making a decision today about a national CCTV trial, a national ban of personal mobile phones in our centres, as well as more national inspections of our centres. There's no one thing, no silver bullet here that's needed. We need to do all of these things to help make sure that our children are safer. 

ABO: All right. That's all pretty promising to hear. Just finally, Jason, obviously the NDIS announcement from your Government yesterday has a lot of parents panicked right across the country, right. A lot of children that will be impacted by this are in classrooms right now right across the country. That falls into your portfolio as well. 

How will you ensure that they are not unfairly impacted, and whatever they transition into is seamless? 

CLARE: Yeah. And this is something that Mark Butler is leading. Obviously, there are a lot of young people at the moment with autism, with developmental delay, that are going through the NDIS really because there is no other system, there's no other life boat in the ocean for them. 

What Mark is saying is we need to design a better system to support them, and that will have to interact with our childcare centres, with our early education and care centres, but also with our schools, and Mark will lead work, working with States and Territories, just like I'm doing today, on child safety to make sure that we get the design of that system right for our kids, to make sure that they get the sort of, you know, the sort of support that they really need. 

ABO: Yeah, a lot of reassurance is needed across the country at the moment. Jason, thanks so much for joining us this morning, appreciate it.