He could have his very own Commission solely dedicated to regulating him, ensuring that his AGM interruptions are in the public interest, and that he doesn’t own more than one share of a company in the same city!

You wouldn’t want to bet on that, would you?
This is 2008 and Australia has changed a lot in the past four years.

Although a referendum NOW on nationalization would give a landslide for “yes”, I don’t think it would break the record of the fair-go-for-Aborigines referendum.

I will go for that.

Maybe, the previous governments bully boy tactics in dragging some single mothers back to work, when they are likely to go backwards financially/emotionally, could be abolished officially.

Much of the criticism of the home care model is of where child-care is provided by a sole adult, usually a mother. The situation improves as if by magic when two or more carers are involved.

Funny thing, that’s just what primitive savages, bush kanakas and other unsofistikated pepol have been doing so successfully for millennia.

Maybe it’s time we went right back to the drawing-board on child-care.

Exactly. I guess some of my concern comes from the possible transference of State responsibility to Local & Federal governments. And cost shifting. I’m thinking particularly of instances in contemporary America. Not that I can’t see the necessity for ending duplication & have seen British councils work quite effectively at times. The QLD mergers have got many of us rate payers & service users thinking about the positives & negatives of transformation.

“There is no doubt btw that the entry of corporate (not private owner-operated) operators into the sector has caused unsustainable fees increases, now getting onto 80-100% over a decade.”

Spot on. CEOs, boards, shareholders, market manipulators, political donations & favors called in…makes for a hairy ride for the kids & the taxpayers.

Anyhow jo, you make many valid points & promote your views articulately & w/ verve. And you’ve done the research. Always appreciated. I like to play Devil’s advocate sometimes so policy promoters know some of what they are up against. The internet has brought w/ it a great deal of necessary querying, probing, opinionating & fresh debate/discussion…& of course, nonsense.

The days of shoving bills & policy thru parliament w/out much questioning are over. The same applies to councils. For better or worse…:) Let’s just hope valuable ideas like yours are assessed by ministers & councillors and we get movement…not stalemate as so often seen in the USA, particularly at the Federal level. Still, at least they have ballot/citizen’s initiatives. Democracy in action…depending on the money behind it of course. Seems to be a growing movement here. Would have a real bearing on who funds what.

The day-to-day reality can change quite dramatically depending on the Democratic & undemocratic initiatives that pop into existence.

BTW, the links are enlightening. Good one.

I’m with Kim btw, I doubt this is the model the Federal Govt would be looking at anyway. But an interesting exercise. (exciting life huh!) There is no doubt btw that the entry of corporate (not private owner-operated) operators into the sector has caused unsustainable fees increases, now getting onto 80-100% over a decade.

Which behaviours of the corporate operators do you believe have caused the fees to increase? Because it appears that the smaller and non-profit operators who already have established buildings have also significantly increased their fees?

The rebate is not a ‘cash in hand’ refund. It is a tax offset that reduces the tax calculated on your income when you lodge your income tax return.

So its really just a once a year lump sum payment then. Would probably be easier for parents if the government just paid the childcare operators directly rather than refund the parents at the end of every financial year.

Many local councils already do operate childcare centres and family day care. If you don’t have children you may not realise this.

Nor generally the range of other community services operated by your Council - Meals on Wheels, Senior Citizens centres & activities, shopping services for seniors/disabled, community exercise & other classes, community buses to transport the elderly and disabled, local swimming pools, libraries and so on.

These services are often underwritten by State funding (or rather now where the State is trying to shift costs back onto Local Council!) and there are long standing relationships between State Area Health & Community Services etc in relation to the coordination & regulation of many these activities.

If you think there is oodles of wastage in any of these services in terms of either state grants or rates, look at the wages paid to workers either direct support workers or even council based staff. Obviously different councils have differing historical levels of services and the type of services they provide.

Back to childcare – you might like to read this post of mine for some background on childcare – it isn’t exhaustive by any stretch, but at least it might provide a little background.

http://larvatusprodeo.net/2007/10/26/whatever-happened-to-the-social-wage/#comment-413833

Before I make any further comments I want to look at the overall Federal budget position currently in relation to both the CCB (childcare benefit) paid and also the CCTR (Childcare Tax Rebate) – the latter which is being raised to 50%, and also the cited outlay required to fund a takeover of ABC Learning, and think about possible benefits in relation to putting downward pressure on fees by such a takeover, and this is totally irrespective of whether Local Government would even be interested in such a move, nor the Feds.

I’m with Kim btw, I doubt this is the model the Federal Govt would be looking at anyway. But an interesting exercise. (exciting life huh!) There is no doubt btw that the entry of corporate (not private owner-operated) operators into the sector has caused unsustainable fees increases, now getting onto 80-100% over a decade.

Lastly, in relation to community based centres – ie. those with Volunteer Boards of Management - there are a few reasons why ABC Learning took off – but one reason was that the expertise required to manage centres became increasingly complex over time (see my post) resulting in many community based centres winding up and ABC Learning stepping in to take over the clients or the centres etc. (And also no new community based centres opening - more to do with no capital Fed grants, thankyou Johnny). Anyway, suffice to say that Volunteer parent committees (who are working parents obviously) have a hell of job running a licensed childcare centre on the third Tuesday of the month.

As to the investment in new centres on state public school land - I sent a long 3 pager to Cheryl Terbutt the NSW minister on this a few years ago - so I should look a the Fed Govt’s policy and report back.. (bet you can’t wait!!)

***

FYI

The Child Care Tax Rebate was introduced in 2004-05. The Rebate covers 30% of out-of-pocket child care expenses for approved child care, with a rebate of up to $4,000 (indexed) per child per year. Out-of-pocket expenses are the total fees paid for child care expenses for approved care, less the amount of Child Care Benefit (CCB) you received.

The rebate is not a ‘cash in hand’ refund. It is a tax offset that reduces the tax calculated on your income when you lodge your income tax return.

http://www.childrenandyouth.wa.gov.au/MS/LMSfiles/2007-2008-australian-government-budget.doc

Helen, as a HOME owner w/ out kids I worry about local councils using rates as a means to an end. Seen too many people overseas driven off their land & out of properties due to education etc. being linked to housing.

I’d be a bit cautious about linking childcare centres to local counciles to closely. Two distinct dangers - if its seen as profitable venture then they’ll be no less ruthless about extracting the most money out of them as they can as a normal business would. If its not and seen more as a community investment then you can easily end up with the situation where those who live in rich areas end up with better childcare because the councils have more money to spend.

Ultimately the quality problems with childcare in Australia come back to too few staff, too poorly paid. That’s a regulation problem not a corporatisation problem.

And if anyone thinks it can be addressed without big lifts in fees then they are dreaming. In childcare you get what you pay for, whether its corporate, communities or government run.

true Chris…probably more palatable than an estate tax…;) Considering you couldn’t hit people w/ an inheritance tax who inherit less than 500,000 considering the cost of HOMES (do we still refer to them as that?) these days.

Helen, as a HOME owner w/ out kids I worry about local councils using rates as a means to an end. Seen too many people overseas driven off their land & out of properties due to education etc. being linked to housing.

Also have seen local councils that are religiously KOOKY or too narrow, to say the least. Those care centres & schools can become a breeding ground for oddball behaviour. Think of the numerous viruses that have entered this country of late. Some spread to politicians…even help give them FEVER….assist to spread it.

But as someone who empathises w/ the needs of many Mums & desires good outcomes for children based on some choice (local/individual needs) I’m willing to read & try & comprehend your views. I find many of your comments insightful. It’s good to hear from the Mums not on the Queen’s honours list…:)

Best to remember tho, plenty of people w/out children may not have the same opinion. Some can be quite self-centred. Particularly when it comes down to them perceiving they hand out too much dosh already for what they see as poor returns.
Means testing will probably go down well w/ them. And the building of more affordable centres that don’t see FEES jacked up at taxpayer’s expense a couple of times a year.

As they say, to help the MANY we can’t always get what WE want. Compromises & bridge building & moderation were words my wise old Grandpop used to use.

Amused - yes personally speaking I think I’d prefer not to use childcare at all in the early years. I’d point out that its not just monetary issues, but just getting leave which is a problem. With the current legislation its next to impossible for fathers to share even unpaid parental leave - its really framed around either the mother or the father using it. And in the very early days it of course makes sense for the mother to use it exclusively which locks out fathers from accessing it.

“The original populists descried the privatized monetary system of their day and were sophisticated enough in their understanding of money to know that radical monetary reform was the sine qua non of true populist, ie, Constitutionally-based politics.

This means, in a word, a nationalized banking system…

This is where the rubber meets the road, progressives, and wannabe populists.

So, even though I said I wouldn’t, I will define the difference between progressives and true populists. The progressive tries to game a rigged system to work in the people’s interest. He’s a true Sisyphus. His chance of getting that stone over the top and achieving a permanent state of popular political control is slim to none. The populist wants to fundamentally change the system, eliminate that insuperable mountain, that is, de-privatize it, so that it operates in the interest of the general Welfare. It currently does not, nor will it ever do so, so long as the money power is in private hands.

A populist, as opposed to a progressive, is therefore in our day, a de facto revolutionary because only a revolution can wrest the money power from private hands and return it to popular control as prescribed in the Constitution, Article 1, Section 8.

The people who like that model are people who think that child care workers need to ‘get over themselves’. Anybody who has ever looked after very young children knows that ‘a small bunch’ of kids, is a very large amount of work and effort to look after properly. How absolutely typical that it is presented as no more than a trifling addition to a mother’s day. You know, ‘an extra baby-who would notice it-it is just an extra vegemite sandwhich’ or some such nonsense.

When parent’s preferences are actually taken into account, they prefer that very young children be looked after by themselves-at home. That means generous paid leave after the child is born. I realise that high quality child care is fundamental to parent’s ability to earn a living, but in the very early years, people actually prefer to look after the children themselves. What a pity that Australia can manage neither high quality child care, paid maternity leave as a right, nor high levels of labour market activity by women compared to other countries( except the US where economic conscription is even more successful than here).

Anne Manne’s article was very valuable and shows beautifully just what the ‘commodification of everything’ actually means for the most intimate and primary relationships. The ‘holy family’ indeed. Not when there’s a buck in it, and some awful prat decides to do some economic modelling that shows just how ‘wasteful’ an activity breastfeeding is for example, when we can ‘pay someone else to do it for us’.

I’ve had two children in community run childcare centres, Annie Dennis in Northcote then Norfolk st in Yarraville. Both were excellent and because Norfolk St had a kindergarten integrated into the building, there was no issue with kids missing out on kindergarten. Family Day care is great for the under 4s as long ans the carer is compatible, although the kindergarten option is not possible for the bigger kids.