We’ve rounded up all the latest news from Australia and around the world – so you don’t have to go searching.
1. Bill Shorten’s plan to tackle childcare and outside school care waiting lists.
Bill Shorten to announce Labor would invest $100 million into high-demand areas. Via Getty.
Labor has announced further plans to tackle the child care crisis saying the current arrangements limit work options for parents.
With long waiting lists for outside school care and early education driving up costs many low and middle income families are locked out out of high demand areas.
Labor will announce childcare resources would be redirected to high demand areas under a Shorten government in a bid to reduce waiting times for working parents struggling to find a place for their children and 1200 new after-school care services will be established under a $160 million package.
Labor would invest $100 million into high-demand areas, which it claims would allow expansion of around 300 services to provide more places, with priority given to not-for-profit services and those providing for disadvantaged children.
And a further $63.2 million over three years would be provided in grants of up to $50,000 to expand Outside School Hours Care in areas of high demand or where it is unavailable.
Currently 60,000 Australian families require additional Outside School Hours Care and nearly half of these parents have needed to make alternative work arrangements because they can’t access care.
Yesterday Labor announced their new $3 billion childcare package — which aims to raise the $7500 rebate to $10,000 promising parents fee relief 18 months earlier than the Coalition, which used the May budget to postpone its childcare reforms until July 2018.
But Education Minister Simon Birmingham said the Labor strategy would see childcare fees spike by 12 per cent.
2. News Poll shows two parties tied 50-50.
The latest poll in The Australian shows the two parties are tied 50-50 with the election still able to go either party’s way.
Labor's lead has slipped slightly from the last four Newspolls that showed the opposition holding a narrow 51-49 lead over the government.
The Coalition's primary vote is at 40 per cent, Labor at 35 per cent while the Greens at 10 per cent.
The two-party-preferred vote sees the first improvement for the Coalition since April — from 49 per cent to 50 per cent.
The poll show that 15 per cent of voters intend to vote for minor and independent parties.
Malcolm Turnbull remains the Preferred Prime Minister, leading Bill Shorten 45 to 30.
Top Comments
Time to overhaul school hours. Children are already there at school, plenty of new teachers are out of work. Extending the school day, like the rest of the world is already doing, is the answer, not un-stimulating after-school babysitting.
Bill Shorten -- Probably an unfortunate choice of words.
I don't believe he meant second in importance or priority (i.e. secondary), but meant if the mum is working, then there are two jobs, i.e. not the only job, in addition to the first job.
I think the media is too quick to sniff out potential feminism slights sometimes and gets outraged where it's not needed or relevant.
I see this less as an issue of feminism and more of a confirmation that the only value any of us has to the country, is as a consumer or wage slaving tax payer.