Experts return fire over Rennick childcare claim

A TOWNSVILLE MP has stopped shy of calling Senator Gerard Rennick a misogynist after he insisted the best place for children was at home, not childcare.

The Liberal senator sparked outrage by citing Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz in a speech to parliament on Wednesday in which he called for children to remain at home until they were at least three years of age.

“If you can keep a child at home … and you can keep a parent at home … you’ll halve congestion, halve pollution and increase the quality of life for the children and their parents,” Mr Rennick ( pictured) said.

“Dorothy didn’t tap her shoes together and say ‘there’s no place like childcare’. She said ‘there’s no place like home’.”

Parenthood, Australia’s leading parenting advocacy organisation, has been campaigning to have the entire sector undergo a funding remodel.

Campaign manager Georgie Dent said the remarks were out of touch with reality.

“Senator Rennick’s remarks are incredibly disappointing but I suppose they’re not really surprising,” she said. “It is completely out of line with what we know from empirical research.”

Ms Dent said Mr Rennick’s comments were unhelpful for breaking down historical gender roles which led to women’s disadvantage.

She added that given the cost of living, it was unrealistic to expect families to survive on a single income.

“It’s really concerning because we know the reality of women’s financial security and futures, that women over 55 are the fastest-growing group of homeless people in Australia,” she said. “And the reason for that is because of them having breaks from the paid workforce because of caring responsibilities.

“Anything that makes it more difficult for women to stay attached to paid work has the effect of entrenching disadvantage and making poverty a more likely outcome for women.”

Drawing on widely reported data that women accept lower-paying jobs and pass on promotions to take up the majority of the caring responsibilities, Mundingburra MP Coralee O’ROurke said these comments highlighted the little value Senator Rennick placed on women in the workplace.

“I know from experience the more diverse any workplace, the better it often is, as there are a range of people with different experiences, opinions and ideas that each contribute in d different ways,” she said.

“Everyone has the right r to work and should s have every opportunity available to them to do so in whatever e capacity they choose.” c

Ms O’rourke, who worked in early education prior to joining politics, said the senator’s comments contradicted scientific evidence that early education set children up for lifelong learning.

She said the notion that children should be at home instead of accessing early childcare was an insult to working parents.

“To make such a comment just goes to show what little value he places on the early years education and care sector and the benefits it can bring to those who utilise it,” she said.

“I know the benefits associated with having access to quality early years education and care for children.

“And there is a significant amount of research and evidence out there to support that.”