Empress Gillard "lets rip" - building her own childcare empire next to ABC

12-November-2008

With 400 ABC Learning Centres labelled “unprofitable”, the Rudd Government is planing to build new Childcare Centres within a 5 km radius of 113 ABC Learning Centres, Sophie Mirabella MP, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education and Childcare revealed today.

“The Rudd Government is currently building 32 new general Childcare Centres – these are the first of 260 Centres they promised during the election. 24 of those new Centres will have at least one ABC Learning Centre within a 5 kilometre radius,” Mrs Mirabella said.

“When I asked Minister Gillard in Question Time whether the Government was reviewing its commitment to build these new Centres in light of the ABC learning crisis, her response was “it’s a big country”. It can now be revealed that over 10% of ABC Learning Centres are within a 5 klm radius of where the Government plans to build its new Centres.”

“There are actually 20 ABC Centres in the exact same suburb as the Government intends to build a new Centre. The frightening thing is that this is just the first of 260 new Centres the Government plans to build – we don’t know where they intend to set up the other 222. This is Minister Gillard’s own little childcare empire!”

Mrs Mirabella said the Government had sent conflicting messages about whether the new Centres were designed to make childcare more affordable by encouraging competition, or meet areas of unmet demand.

“Surely the Minister needs to take a very close look at those 113 ABC Learning Centres within a 5 km radius of her new Centres sites – and see whether they fall into the 40% of unprofitable Centres? It seems remarkable that the Minister could be using taxpayer funds to prop up a child care centre while at the same time using more taxpayer money to build a brand new one close by.”

“The Minister claims the former Government “let rip” with competition in the childcare sector – but she’s the one in the business of building her own child care empire and experimenting with the childcare market.”

“At a time when the whole sector needs to be carefully managed and reviewed, the Minister’s cavalier attitude is terribly inappropriate.”

Mrs Mirabella said worried Australian families were still waiting to see the contingency plan that the Minister promised she was working on.

“The Minister told the House several weeks ago that she had a Taskforce examining and working on a contingency plan. Where is the plan?” Mrs Mirabella said. “When the Minister does finally get around to addressing this issue, a close examination of the Government’s own child care empire needs to be part of the long-term approach.”