Councils call for ABC clarity beyond Dec 31

18-November-2008

Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education and Childcare Sophie Mirabella today supported calls by the Municipal Association of Victoria for the Federal Government to step up its efforts to ensure parents aren’t left in the lurch by ABC Learning Centres closing on December 31.

“The local Councils in Victoria see what Minister Gillard’s clearly doesn’t – that the December deadline is a farce. It is totally unrealistic to think that this can be resolved in 6 weeks. Expressions of Interest are only just being called for and it took nearly 3 months for auditors to sift through the books and determine that the company needed to go into receivership.”

“The Rudd Government has set a ridiculous timetable of just 6 weeks to sort through the intricate financial details and resolve the future of over 1000 Childcare Centres on a Centre-by-Centre basis. This is no way of dealing with such a complex problem and it may result in a “quick fix” which could do more harm than good and leave thousands of families stranded without child care,” Mrs Mirabella said.

“The fact is that parents and staff need reassurance now on what the Government’s long-term plan is. They need to see the contingency plan that the Minister has been promising so they can go into the new year knowing what their child care options are,” Mrs Mirabella said.

Mrs Mirabella said the Government had indicated some weeks ago it would announce “further plans” in mid-December.

“Mid-December is 10 days before Christmas. It’s 2 weeks before the $22 million package expires on December 31. Does the Minister seriously think that gives parents time to plan for alternative care or staff time to find another job in the new year?”

“There’s evidence the ongoing uncertainty is affecting staffing levels and it will no doubt have an effect on attendance levels too – as parents make alternative plans rather than risk waiting until mid-December.”

“Victorian Council are right in urging the government to re-think the deadline. While the Coalition supports the $22 million funding to keep Centres open and provide security for worried parents, Ms Gillard needs to make good on her promise that the Government has a contingency plan - and let Australian parents know exactly what it is.”

“This situation has not come from out of the blue. There were indications 9 months ago that the company was in serious trouble, they ceased trading on the stock exchange in August, and the Government is not going to announce its contingency plan until December. This is just not good enough.”