Problems are child’s play

By Tania Martin
SHIRE OF Yarra Ranges councillor Samantha Dunn has welcomed a Labor Party election promise to address childcare shortages.
The party’s candidate for La Trobe, Rodney Cocks, and the Federal Opposition spokeswoman on families, Jenny Macklin, visited the Sherbrooke Children’s Centre in Upwey last week to announce a commitment to tackling the childcare crisis.
They announced a policy that would include $450 million for improved preschool services and the building of more than 260 new childcare centres in areas of need on primary school grounds.
Cr Dunn said more funding and better childcare options for parents in the shire were desperately needed. She said childcare funding has been a problem for the council for many years.
Cr Dunn was one of many parents who campaigned long and hard to save the Sherbrooke Children’s Centre from closing.
In 2004 the centre faced an uncertain future when the council announced a review of two of its loss-making childcare centres.
Sherbrooke Children’s Centre and Durham Road Day Care Centre in Kilsyth were on the chopping block after they recorded a combined loss of $433,000 a year.
But Cr Dunn said after more than three years of residents campaigning to keep the Sherbrooke Childcare Centre’s opened, the council resolved to run it as long as it remained cost neutral, which was being achieved. She said the council had also allocated $5.6 million in its 10-year capital works budget to build a community hub, which would house childcare and community services for people living in Upwey.
Cr Dunn said the Labor policy and funding intentions were in line with what the council was trying to achieve with the centre in Upwey.
Mr Cocks said that affordable childcare was one of the biggest issues for residents in La Trobe.
“Childcare costs have doubled on Mr Howard’s watch – going up by more than 12 per cent every year for the past four years,” he said.
Ms Macklin said that families in La Trobe on a median family income of $78,000 were forking out more than $168 a week in out-of-pocket childcare costs for each child.
She said mothers now had to weigh up whether it was worth going back to work because of the high cost of childcare.
“The Liberal Government has denied that there is a childcare crisis, instead blaming parents for being too choosy,” Ms Macklin said.
But Liberal La Trobe MP Jason Wood said Ms Macklin was misleading the people in his electorate with her claims about childcare costs.
“Ms Macklin’s claim that a family on $78,000 is paying up to $168 out of its own pocket for one child in full-time child care is just not true,” he said.
Mr Wood said Ms Macklin was ignoring the childcare tax rebate, which covered up to 30 per cent of out-of-pocket expenses to a maximum of more than $4000 per child per year.
“She needs to stop peddling misinformation to parents for her own political gain. The only thing she achieves is to discourage parents who may need childcare from seeking it.”
Mr Wood also said that many childcare services in La Trobe were reporting vacancies in all age groups on all days. “If Ms Macklin is so convinced of shortages in Upwey, why isn’t she committing to building one of her taxpayer-funded centres there,” Mr Wood said.
“She says Labor will build new centres, but won’t commit to any until after the election.
“Is this because she knows her claims about childcare shortages are unfounded and it will be the first of Labor’s promises to be broken should they win the election.”