Ms THEOPHANOUS (Northcote): It gives me great pleasure to speak on this matter of public importance. All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain but there in the sandpit at Yarralea kinder in Alphington. These are the things that I learned: Share everything. Play fair. Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. … Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life—learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. These are just some of the wise words of poet Robert Fulghum from his Credo. The kindergarten credo is not simple; it is elemental. Everything in life as adults can be drawn back to these words. While it seems somewhat far-fetched, think about this: a child’s brain grows to 90 per cent of its adult size by the age of five. Kindergarten is not the same as school. Kinder is about being emotionally and socially ready for school. Indeed the research shows that young children learn best through play rather than through structured activities. This allows teachers and educators to incorporate children’s interests, responses and needs as they develop to adapt new ways for them to learn and explore. Fundamentally kinder is about teaching our kids to be learners. At kindergarten children learn to work with others and develop social skills, express their creativity, build their communication skills and develop the foundational skills that they need for reading, writing and problem solving. The earlier these vital life skills are developed, the more transformational they are throughout life. That is why last week’s budget delivered by the Andrews Labor government is investing $881.6 million to begin the rollout of the biggest reform in this state’s history when it comes to early childhood education. I am going to pause there for a moment because I want to reflect on just one word of that last statement—one word—'invest’, because that is the fundamental difference between those that sit on the other side of the house and those on this side. Those on the other side see this program as a cost, not an investment. This program is of course the rollout of universal subsidised three-year-old kinder for every Victorian child—a program that will give Victorian children every possible opportunity to succeed no matter their background or postcode. The importance of investing in our collective futures is clearly something that escapes those opposite, just as it escapes their friends in Canberra. To their shame this year’s federal Liberal budget includes no funding for three-year-old kinder and has even failed to guarantee funding for four-year-old kinder. Add to this that the Morrison government last year pulled the pin on safety and quality checks for all Victorian childcare centres and dumped occasional childcare funding. What a disgrace—preschool for 80 000 of our littlest Victorians at risk. Surely we can do better than that. We must do better than that, and in Victoria we are doing better than that. Universal kinder is not just about helping young minds grow and starting them on their education journey. Universal three-year-old kinder is a matter of public importance in a way that many of those sitting opposite fail to realise. Deputy Speaker, as you know, there is no greater happiness than becoming a parent. I have been blessed with being a mum to two lively little girls: Ariana is almost two and Cleo is just three months old. I can scarcely describe the immense joy they bring to my husband and I. But as you know, with parenthood also come immense challenges, and there is perhaps no other role that tests us as parenting does. No doubt many would agree that going back to work after having children is a balancing act even under the best of circumstances. I know from my own experience that balancing the cost of care with the family budget and the time spent away from the kids is no easy feat. On this front, providing universal access to three-year-old kinder will be a game changer for many families, as it also supports parents, and women in particular, to go back to work. This is a program that could just as easily fall under the Treasurer’s responsibility as it could under the Minister for Education, because three-year-old kinder is also economic policy—it is employment policy. Policy which breaks down barriers to women’s participation in the economy is an issue that is very close to me. In fact there are many members on this side of the chamber whom this policy will directly affect, now or in the very near future. And there is a reason that so many on this side of the chamber are affected by this policy: because this side of the chamber actually supports young women into our ranks, and indeed 50 per cent of our cabinet are women. But as I said, this policy is economic policy. We know that when women are a productive part of the economy, the economy is stronger. Our economy is stronger and our living standards are higher. According to the Grattan Institute, improving women’s participation in the nation’s economy will add 1 per cent to our gross domestic product, or $25 billion. And like many young mums in my community, access to affordable child care and early childhood education are some of the most significant barriers to participation. It takes a village to raise a child, and I am fortunate to have a very supportive village. Part of that village is the local child care that my older daughter attends, and I look forward to her moving into their kinder program very soon. These reforms are also an investment when you take into account the longer term effects of children starting kinder as early as possible. We know that the pathway for our young people, especially those at risk, is a very different one if they have access to early education. Learning how to learn at kinder is vital. The dividend of investing in our young people early is savings that we make later in life, whether that is the improved health outcomes or even a reduction in interactions with the justice system. The health outcomes element brings me to the other part of today’s matter: the $321.9 million for free dental care at all Victorian primary and secondary schools. I know that I have spent a lot my allotted time today speaking on the kinder element of the member for Carrum’s motion and I know that my colleagues have spoken at length on the Smile Squad, but this is Labor policy at its best, because we know that only Labor governments will do this—only Labor governments can do this. There were pretenders around, but luckily for the people of my electorate they were short-lived, because there is no finer example of how only Labor actually governs for Victoria than this school dental program. The implications and complications that come from poor dental health are rarely recognised to their full extent. This initiative will have a profound positive impact on the lives of young people and older people from Ouyen to Alphington. We have heard some of these facts today already, but I want to reflect on them. Dental conditions are the highest single cause of preventable hospitalisations for kids under 10. Think about that for a moment; think about the cost to our hospitals right there and the heartache and angst for our families. To be sure, this is a massive expansion of public health care, but the cost of not doing this program far outweighs the benefits that this investment will bring. And there it is again: investment. This program will free up around 100 000 places in the public dental system each year. That is effectively 100 000 more places that can be used by those on the waiting list now. The dental habits that we learn when we are young continue through life. Teaching young people good habits and having them develop healthily right from the start reduces complications in later years and takes pressure off the system down the track. But once again, that is what separates us from those on the other side of the house. They would say, 'You’re on your own’. As with many public health matters, their prevention policy is to park the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. Again, we can do better than that and we must do better than that. And in Victoria the Andrews Labor government is doing better.
