Southern Metropolitan Region
Ryan BATCHELOR (Southern Metropolitan) (14:02): (1071) My constituency question is to the Minister for Children. How is the state government ensuring that our early learning centres flourish in the Southern Metropolitan Region? I recently attended the open day of the Elwood Children’s Centre and really quickly saw why both the parents and the children absolutely love this facility. The Elwood Children’s Centre was one of six early learning centres in the City of Port Phillip that were threatened with closure a few years ago. But thanks to the council and state and federal governments working together we have managed to keep these centres open, and now these centres are about to embark on an exciting period of refurbishment and renovation thanks to the state Labor government providing more than $12 million to the City of Port Phillip through a Building Blocks partnership to redevelop all six of these local early learning centres. This Labor government is committed to supporting Victorian families. Our Best Start, Best Life agenda is giving more early learning to three- and four-year-olds, supporting Victorian families to meet cost-of-living pressures and ensuring our youngest Victorians get the best start in life.