Labor has accused the Coalition and the Greens of “getting together” to delay urgent reform of the NSW childcare sector.
The Children (Education and Care Services National Law Application) Amendment Bill 2025 was referred to a parliamentary inquiry on Tuesday.
The Bill includes more than 30 changes to childcare regulation, including new powers to the regulator to publish information and a 900 per cent penalty increase to large providers.
Asked about the Bill’s progress during question time on Thursday, Monaro MP Steve Whan said the sector had been “crying out” for the “nation-leading” legislation.
“I think that everybody watching this would say that action needs to happen now, not in a few weeks or a few months,” Mr Whan said.
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“So, what have we just seen happen in the upper house? We’ve seen the Greens and the opposition vote together to refer this Bill to an upper house committee.”
Mr Whan, who was answering for Acting Education Minister Courtney Houssos, described the joint vote as an “unholy coalition”.
He said the decision to send the Bill off for an inquiry “defies logic”.
“It defies their own party positions,” he said.
“We’ve seen the Greens calling for action on this, and when the government takes action we see them delaying.”
The comments sparked loud debate within the parliamentary chamber, with multiple MPs ordered to vacate.
Among them was Greens MP Jenny Leong, who claimed Mr Whan’s comments were insulting and “playing politics”.
“The fact that multiple women who have had children in early childhood education while they have been members of parliament in this chamber today, to then have the minister suggest that is an outrage,” she said.
The reforms come after a string of high-profile child abuse cases in childcare centres across the country.
Much of the sector is governed by national laws, with the Albanese government pledging a suite of reforms, though the NSW government says it will take its own action.
https://thewest.com.au/news/nsw-labor-accuses-coalition-greens-of-unholy-coalition-to-delay-childcare-reform-c-20061490
