Confused Labor scrambles to repair damage

07-November-2008

Whilst the Coalition welcomes the belated bailout of ABC Learning Centres, there is still no certainty for parents post-Christmas, Sophie Mirabella MP, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education and Childcare said today.

“The attempt by the Minister for Education Julia Gillard to deflect blame for the crisis facing ABC Learning centres to the former Coalition Government is desperate and incompetent,” Mrs Mirabella said.

“At a time when parents are left wondering about the future care of their children, Ms Gillard this morning tried to blame the crisis facing ABC Learning on the former Government. The news that ABC Learning was in trouble was revealed nine months ago in February. However it was not until September that the Government apparently set up a task force to develop contingency plans in the event of a collapse. Yesterday, the company was placed in voluntary receivership and the mooted contingency plans are still nowhere to be seen.”

“In an extraordinary admission this morning, Ms Gillard blamed the former Government’s uncapping of childcare places to meet demand in the industry, as a major factor in ABC Learning’s current woes,” Mrs Mirabella said.

“Ms Gillard is obviously unaware that State Governments are responsible for the licensing of Childcare centres. If this is the problem she has had ample opportunity to speak to her state counterparts over the past 12 months.”

“The parents of the 100,000 children attending ABC learning Centres around the country must be very worried today. They want certainty when it comes to the care of their children and they want action from the Government, not petty blame shifting,” Mrs Mirabella said.

“The Coalition has been calling for the Rudd Government to reassure parents and come clean with their contingency plans, but our requests for them to be made public has fallen on deaf ears. We also have a situation where the Parliamentary Secretary has continually hidden behind the Minister and has been nowhere to be seen.”

“We call on the Minister to liaise with the industry as a whole and develop a sustainable strategy for ABC Learning into the future,” Mrs Mirabella concluded.