All parents deserve child care access
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Samantha Hawley, ABC Political Reporter for AM, PM and The World Today, and son
Santa Claus is coming to federal Parliament this week. And this time it's for real. Well the little people he's coming to visit will think it is.
For the first time in the nation's history, in the lead up to Christmas, there's a child care centre in the building. After decades of lobbying, it opened in February and it's full. The 20 odd babies and toddlers aged up to three wouldn't understand the significance of where they spend their days. But the parents sure do and so do many others.
As the Prime Minister said in his Christmas speech to the Parliament last month, "...the pitter patter of little feet around this place I think is a wonderful thing. There should be more of it, it actually humanises a lot of us." It has made a huge difference to my entrance to the house on the hill. I've been working here for almost a decade but in the past six months I've been entering with a baby boy in arms.
The security guards light up when they see him, and he enjoys their waves and hellos. It has been noted by many how nice it is to see little people in an often very serious place. Walking hand in hand down the corridor one day, my boy held out his other hand to a complete stranger. She took it and the three of us walked on until arriving at the door of the child care centre. (It's in the old members bar... the bar's gone!) And more recently in the marble hall he was admiring the patterns on the floor, "Isn't it lovely how they notice the little things," a passer-by noted. And it's true. It's such a beautiful building that we work in but with the busyness the days bring we hardly notice.
But for all the good things the child care centre brings for those of us immediately involved, it's the wider symbolism that is also important. It's a message that should have been sent when this building was first opened in 1988 and it's a great shame that it took so long, and so much lobbying from so many, for it to become a reality.
Kevin Rudd said in his Christmas address, "this is a very important part of the institutional and family life of the building and, I think, for honourable members who have little ones whether they are in this chamber or in the Senate or members of the media or other members of staff in this place, and the fact that we have now been able to provide for some time child care within the building I believe makes this a much more family friendly environment."
More than three thousand people work in Parliament House on a sitting week. Many of them are our nation's politicians and they have children too. The Labor MP Tanya Plibersek, a mother of two, was among the group of women who lobbied hard for the centre. Last year she said, "...it has not been an issue of self-interest for those people. It has been an issue of principle." And the now Liberal Leader, Tony Abbott said in a speech to Parliament last year, "...if we are serious about giving women real choices, if we want women to have the choice of being both mothers and workers rather than just one or the other, we have to encourage the provision of accessible child care."
It's a true honour for those of us who have access to this impressive, and very accessible facility and the caring, attentive staff that work there. It's a privilege that all working families across the country deserve too.
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