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Community facilities | October 28, 2022

Kealy commits to Dunmunkle childcare facility

Member for Lowan and Deputy Leader of The Nationals Emma Kealy has committed $845,000 in state funding to help bring a desperately needed childcare facility in Murtoa to fruition if the Nationals and Liberals are elected to government next month.

The funding would go to Yarriambiack Shire Council to build the Dunmunkle Childcare Centre, to service families in Murtoa, Minyip and Rupanyup. The council has committed $440,000 to the project and has also sought federal government funding.

Ms Kealy said families in Yarriambiack Shire were desperately in need of childcare and required urgent government funding support to get the project over the line.

“Murtoa is in the unique situation of having childcare workers, pre-school-aged children and land ready to go, but is missing the required infrastructure to make the project a reality,” she said.

“I often talk to women in particular who are struggling to return to work because they can’t get their child into care. There is a direct correlation between the accessibility of childcare and the participation of mothers with a child aged under five years in the workforce.

“I have personally met with ICU nurses, teachers, and a dental nurse in the area who are all keen to return to the local workforce, but many have been unable to do so simply because there is no childcare available in their local community.

“Some parents are currently leaving their homes and travelling more than 200km a day just to access the childcare they so desperately need, which is not sustainable.

“They need our support to change this, and we need them in our local workforce.”

Earlier in the year, Yarriambiack Shire Council applied for federal funding through round six of the Building Better Regions scheme. However the new Albanese Labor Government announced this week it would not proceed with funding applications made during that round.

Ms Kealy said state and federal Labor governments’ continued failure to recognise that families in rural Victoria needed access to childcare just as much as families living in major centres was beyond disappointing.

“I am proud to be a part of a Liberal Nationals Government that will provide the state government funding required to bring this vital project to fruition and give families in Murtoa, Minyip and Rupanyup access to the childcare they so desperately need and deserve,” she said.