MR PALLAS (Werribee—Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Industrial Relations) (14:32):

I rise to provide an update to the house on one of the biggest public policy and economic reforms that this state has ever seen. Last Thursday the Andrews Labor government announced Best Start, Best Life—an ambitious overhaul of the early childhood education and care policy areas—with a massive $9 billion investment over the next decade to save families money and to support women to return to the workforce. It is an investment. It is an investment in families and in the future of our state.

We know that childcare costs are crippling family budgets. We are seeing households spending up to 20 per cent of their income to cover these ever-increasing costs. And without better access to child care many parents, mainly women, are being held back from working the jobs and the hours that they want. We know that workforce participation is key to driving economic growth, and this reform will provide a massive boost to Victoria’s workforce. Families tell me that child care is too expensive, while many employers tell me that they are struggling to fill labour shortages. This once-in-a-generation reform can help fix both of these problems and deliver massive dividends to our state by reducing disincentives for parents to work. This investment is a down payment on our future productivity. As Sonneman and Jackson said to the Australian Financial Review just days ago, these childcare reforms will deliver economic benefits for decades to come. Modelling from the Front Project and PwC indicates that for every dollar government spends on child care and preschool, $2 will be returned to the economy.