Preschool Eligibility Age

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (14:29): I seek leave to make a brief explanation prior to addressing a question to the Leader of the Government in this place regarding broken election promises.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: In the lead-up to the 2022 election Labor policy documents included a, and I quote, 'commitment to offer three-year-old preschool to all children in South Australia from 2026'. In the government's response to the Gillard royal commission it announced a new timeline of delivering this commitment by 2032, two electoral cycles after the initial promise. Given the royal commission identified that 2,000 extra teachers and other qualified staff would need to be trained and recruited to meet this promise, my question is: can the government guarantee that all staff will be recruited in time to meet this much-delayed timeline?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (14:30): I thank the honourable member for her question and for highlighting some of the very significant work this government has done, highlighting some of the very significant changes this government has been making. The honourable member is right: in something that is so important and so fundamental for the future of South Australia a royal commission was held to see the best way to deliver early childhood education in South Australia.

I am very proud to be part of a government that is committed to three-year-old preschool. This isn't something that you often see from governments—committing significant sums of money, significant times in policy endeavours that don't have a short-term payoff, that are for decades in the future. I know that the Minister for Education, the Hon. Blair Boyer, the member for Wright, has been working extremely hard, has been taking heed of the recommendations that the former Prime Minister, the Hon. Julia Gillard, as royal commissioner, made and is rolling out as quickly and as effectively as possible three-year-old preschool in this state.