Statements By Members – Early Childhood Education and Care (Strengthening Regulation of Early Education) Bill 2025 – Speech in the Federation Chamber 29/07/2025

Hansard 29/07/2025  Federation Chamber

Mr LLEW O’BRIEN (Wide Bay) (18:53): I rise to speak on the Early Childhood Education and Care (Strengthening Regulation of Early Education) Bill 2025 and to lend my support to it. First and foremost I want to say that our childcare workers are amazing people who do an amazing job and provide care that we’ve all experienced with our own kids and, in my case, grandkids. They’re to be held up as people that we should be proud of.

But this bill, obviously, is here to address those evil—I don’t even want to call them ‘people’—things that get into that system and do the unthinkable: take advantage of our most vulnerable little ones. The reality is that the time for talking is up. This is not a reflection of any particular party, because we all share a responsibility here. We know what we’ve got to do here. This bill is good, and it does head in the right direction and it does prioritise the safety and care of the kids, which are the most important things, obviously. And it adds transparency to a system, and that’s always a good thing. But there are more things we need to do.

People I know who have been affected by these horrible situations are telling me loudly and clearly to act. Act! Do the things that they’re calling out for. Harmonise these working-with-children checks. This is a complex area, and there does need to be more national coordination here. It’s one of those areas where the states have responsibilities, and the Commonwealth and the states have been working together on this for many years, but these kinds of offences have continued to occur. We’ve had a number of reviews, and their recommendations haven’t always been acted on. We need to act on them.

These predators just don’t see the world like a normal person. When I see a little one, I know I see complete innocence and vulnerability. I hope for a bright future for them. I feel like I want to protect them, nurture them and make sure that they’re safe. These people don’t see that. They see them as an opportunity—an opportunity to gratify themselves in the most sick and twisted way, with no regard for that little person. Some of them are very intelligent. I used to be a policeman; I’ve had a fair bit to do with people of this nature. Some of them come across as the exact opposite to what they are. And this is why we need a framework that is absolutely robust. These people are evil, and they don’t stop. They take pleasure in that sadness and that horror that they inflict. So we need to act. That, simply, is my message. I’ve sat down with the parents of some of the little ones that are affected by this, and they just want action.

So this bill is a good thing. It heads in the right direction. It does all of those things that, really, should have been done a long time ago. But we need to harmonise the state checks. We need to get the states doing the right thing. If we need to increase resources to those who conduct the checks, we need to do that. If we need to lower the threshold so intelligence or information that isn’t currently drawn on to decide on the appropriateness of these people does get drawn on, we need to do that.

We need to make the system as strict as possible. I think we absolutely need to ban mobile phones. This is another tool of these evil predators that is just unthinkable. I agree with the proposition of putting CCTV into these day-care centres. So, simply put, we need to act.

I know the minister is a good man. Everyone in this parliament wants to stop this. I’ve spoken to some of the state people that have responsibilities in this area; they’re enthusiastic. We’ve got to change it. Kids could be being abused now because the changes haven’t happened. It’s our responsibility to stop it. So I commend this bill, as well as saying we need to be doing more, and we need to do it now.