Housing Minister Clare O’Neil has said she expects the childcare reforms due to be introduced later today to receive “really fast” passage through parliament, as Labor and the Coalition work together to expedite the proposal being signed into law.
Speaking on Seven’s Sunrise, O’Neil said the reforms, designed to improve safety standards following recent allegations of abuse in childcare centres across Australia, were “right at the top” of the government’s agenda in the first sitting week of the new parliamentary term.
Housing Minister Clare O’Neil.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“We’ve been working in a really bipartisan way with the opposition on making sure that this gets a really fast passage through the parliament … it’s really critical that we get on top of this,” O’Neil said.
“I’ve got a daughter who’s in childcare at the moment. I’m desperate about this not just as a politician but as a parent. I’m really pleased to see the education minister [Jason Clare] bringing forward some legislation today that is going to have incredibly harsh repercussions for childcare centres that do not properly protect our children.”
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has previously said the Coalition would work constructively with Labor on the childcare reforms, and has also appeared receptive to the government’s student debt cut after opposing the measure on the campaign trail.
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