TIME TURNBULL ABANDONED HIS CUTS TO COUNTRY AND INDIGENOUS EARLY EDUCATION

26 September 2016

Indigenous early education services in Ipswich and the greater West Moreton region are at risk as a result Of Malcolm Turnbull’s proposed child care changes.

New evidence shows up to 90 per cent of mobile early education services in regional and remote areas will be closed.

This comes on top of a Deloitte Access Economics report which found two thirds of Indigenous early childhood services – which are part of the same program – will have their funding cut by Malcolm Turnbull’s proposed changes.

“Services provided by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Family Centres, such as the Ipswich Children and Family Centre and Amaroo Community Kindergarten and Pre-School, provide high quality early childhood education specifically for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children,” Mr Neumann said.

“In addition they support and connect vulnerable families throughout the Western Corridor to access an array of integrated services that do have a significant impact in improving the safety, health and wellbeing of families and communities.

“Malcom Turnbull’s plan to force Budget Based Funded Indigenous and mobile services to “transition” to a one-size-fits-all system is code for a “shut-down” of these services.

“That’s why Labor is demanding Malcolm Turnbull abandon his flawed ‘transition’ plan altogether and guarantee ongoing funding.

“Without these services many children in rural and regional areas will miss out on early education entirely – so will many Indigenous children.

“This will drag Australia backward at time when all the data shows Indigenous and country children are already missing out on early education.

“In their current form, the Liberals’ child care changes will leave one in three families worse off, and push many vulnerable and disadvantaged children out of the system altogether.

“Malcolm Turnbull keeps stuffing everything up. He wants to spend $3 billion of taxpayers money to make hundreds of thousands of families worse off.”