As regional communities continue to suffer from a lack of childcare and early learning facilities, The Nationals’ Member for Euroa, Annabelle Cleeland, has called out the state government for pork barrelling and prioritising Labor areas over towns that need it more.
Out of the 26 new early learning and childcare centres expected to be completed by the end of 2026, 20 were being established in areas with a Labor MP as the sitting state member – while another facility is opening in the seat of an independent that until earlier this year was part of the Labor Party.
Ms Cleeland said it was devastating to see towns with an urgent need for more childcare like Seymour get passed over while Labor seats continue to reap the benefits.
“When Labor first announced that their 50 new early learning and childcare facilities would be opened in areas with the greatest demand, there was some initial optimism that our towns would be looked after,” Ms Cleeland said.
“Instead, we’ve seen the facility announced for Seymour pushed back until 2028, before being delayed again until 2032 at the earliest.
“Meanwhile, other towns in the region were ignored entirely and will remain without childcare options.”
Ms Cleeland has been relentlessly advocating for more childcare in the region, which has included organising studies into local availability, developing policy, raising the need for more facilities in Parliament, arranging community surveys, and meeting with the Minister for Children.
Analysis of childcare in the Euroa region was summarised in a report titled “Beyond Urban Borders”, commissioned by Ms Cleeland, that investigates accessibility challenges in the region using data, community responses, and interviews with local providers.
“This report makes it very clear that there is not enough childcare in our region,” Ms Cleeland said.
“When questions were put forward to the community, three quarters of respondents shared frustration over the long waitlists they were experiencing – sometimes as long as three years.
“Not having enough available childcare has a massive impact on the future of our smaller towns with many families forced to relocate most of their lives to bigger centres for improved access.
“Additionally, we already have extreme cost of living pressures, as well as a labour crisis – making more childcare options so important to ensure parents can return to work and alleviate these issues.”
These views were also represented in a 2022 report from the Mitchell Institute that indicated the Euroa electorate had a high number of Childcare Deserts, meaning areas that have less than 0.333 childcare places per child aged four and under.
The report showed that the Seymour region, Benalla, and Kilmore-Broadford were some of the areas struggling the most, while smaller towns such as Murchison, Rushworth, Tooborac, and Redesdale had no childcare at all.
