Labor’s Budget would benefit apprentices and childcare

AT LEAST two of the measures proposed by the Labor Party in its Budget reply would have significant benefits for people in the Geelong region, according to Corangamite Labor federal member Libby Coker.
In his budget reply speech, given on October 8, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese proposed mandating that at least 10 per cent of the workforce on federally funded projects be apprentices and trainees.
The Coalition’s budget has $6.7 billion in new infrastructure spending, and Ms Coker said those projects should be used as a training ground for the next generation of tradespeople.
“It’s time the Morrison-McCormack Government put its money where its mouth is and gave our young apprentices and trainees hope for the future.
“A great way to achieve this is for the government to ensure that one in every 10 workers on federally-funded projects is an apprentice or trainee.
“I want to see local apprentices and trainees working on the federally funded upgrades to the Barwon Heads road and the South Geelong to Waurn Ponds rail duplication.”
Labor also has big plans for childcare.
The childcare subsidy cap of $10,560 (for families earning more than $189,390 per year) would be scrapped, and the maximum childcare subsidy rate would be lifted from 85 per cent to 90 per cent.
The plan would also taper childcare subsidy rates for every family earning less than $530,000.
“An elected Labor Government would cut the excessive child care fees and put more money back into the pockets of working families,” Ms Coker said.
She said childcare was presently so expensive that it was often a barrier for women returning to the workforce.
“At best many women will only work for up to three days because otherwise they are just working to pay for childcare.
“It’s a shocking predicament facing so many local families.
“Ultimately, it means women often earn less superannuation, can lose confidence and connection with their network and skills. This is the exact opposite of what we want for women.”
Grovedale mother Pawandeep Gill said her young family would greatly benefit from Labor’s plan.
“It would give us more options. At the moment I only work part time, but under Labor’s plan, I would be in a position where I could take on more work.
“It’s really important to me that my children benefit from the experience of early childcare, but the costs outweigh the benefits under the current model.”