Anthony Albanese fast-tracks cost of living relief
<p>Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to fast-track legislation to introduce new measures to help struggling families and students during the ongoing cost of living crisis. </p>
<p>The legislation will be introduced to parliament in the next two weeks which will include a guarantee of three days of subsidised childcare each week for Australian families, and will make fee-free TAFE permanent.</p>
<p>The Labor government said three days of subsidised childcare is “about putting in place the building blocks for a universal childcare system”, with Education Minister Jason Clare saying the policy “is fundamentally about making sure every child gets a great start in life and start school ready to learn."</p>
<p>“At the moment the children who need early education the most can’t access it,” Clare said.</p>
<p>“They are missing out. As a result they start school behind and often never catch up. This will help fix that. Every child has the right to go to school — and governments have a responsibility to make that possible."</p>
<p>“We believe every child has the right to go to early education, to help make sure they don’t start school behind — and our Labor government is going to make this possible.”</p>
<p>Passing laws to make fee-free TAFE permanent will save “students thousands of dollars to train in key occupations, while delivering the skilled workers Australia needs”, the Albanese government said.</p>
<p>“Our focus is on Building Australia’s Future while helping with the cost of living now,” Leader of the House Tony Burke said.</p>
<p>“This fortnight we’ll continue delivering on that agenda — securing cost-of-living support for families through childcare reforms, while setting up our future prosperity through skills, training and future industry,” Burke said.</p>
<p>Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has opposed most cost-of-living measures, claiming they will have the opposite effect by pushing up inflation and delaying interest rate cuts.</p>
<p>However, underlying inflation is now sitting at 3.2 per cent, and most economists believe the Reserve Bank will cut rates on February 18th.</p>
<p><em>Image credits: LUKAS COCH/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Editorial</em></p>
