[Greens-Media] Greens urge Govt to learn from ABC mistakes

[Clark, Gemma (Sen S. Hanson-Young)]

Saturday 8 November 2008

Greens urge Govt to learn from ABC mistakes

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has welcomed the Federal Government’s response to the ABC Learning collapse, but says that parents must be told what will happen to their children’s centres in 2009, and steps must be taken to ensure that this situation does not occur again.

The Government yesterday announced a $22 million package to keep ABC Learning’s centres open until the end of the year, following the childcare giant’s corporate collapse on Thursday.

“There is no guarantee from the Government that all of the thousand-plus ABC Learning Centres in this country will stay open beyond this New Year’s Eve,” said Senator Hanson-Young.

“There are already shockingly long waiting lists for childcare.

“If the worst-case scenario happens and a centre shuts its doors, where do those parents send their kids?”

Senator Hanson-Young questioned the fact that some 40 per cent of ABC Learning Centres have been deemed not profitable.

“How can this be when ABC Learning has charged some of the highest daily childcare rates in Australia?

“Combine this fact with the fact that ABC Learning will rake in $300 million in government subsidies this year, and it’s clear that we need a serious rethink of the way childcare has been cast to the mercy of market forces.”

Senator Hanson-Young said that childcare needed to be recognised as an essential community service needing government support.

“Childcare, just like the other stages in an education program of lifelong learning, needs to be sufficiently funded and delivered by government,” she said.

“At a time of a significant skills shortage, it is reprehensible that there will be even fewer childcare places available to parents, keeping skilled men and women out of the workforce because their kids are at home waiting for a place to free up at their local centre.

“The Government must ensure that, come Christmas, ABC Learning is not simply sold to another corporate entity that will once again prioritise the profits of shareholders above the needs of children and the sustainability of their place of care and learning.

“The folding of ABC Learning is an opportunity to transform these existing facilities into viable non-profit centres.

“When childcare is not run for profit, the viability of centres does not rely on whether or not shareholders are lining their pockets.” 

Media contact: Gemma Clark on 0427 604 760