Cumberland City Council has welcomed the State Government’s relief package for council-run childcare centres.
The Council’s 17 education and child care centres will continue to operate in Western Sydney, thanks to this much-needed financial assistance.
Commenting on the development, Cumberland City Council Mayor Steve Christou said:
“Consistent with Council’s commitment to all parents and carers last week regarding the suspension of Cumberland City Council education and care services, we have lobbied all levels of government with the help of parents in our local community.
“I am delighted by the State Government’s announcement this morning to allow all Councils to provide free child care, with the costs of this service being met in part by the Federal Government, and the State Government meeting the balance.
“I am so proud of the Cumberland City community for leading the way in getting this issue resolved on behalf of not only our local community but for all child care services run by the Local Government sector across NSW.
“We are relieved that common sense has prevailed and that the NSW Government has recognised the value of these early educational services that we provide for our working families.
“Prior to this announcement, we were facing a $500,000 loss each month to keep these services operating as a result from being excluded from the JobKeeper package. We didn’t want to close them but economically, it was not sustainable.
“Now we can keep our 17 early education and care centres open and give certainty to our 150 staff who provide these services and the 600 families that use them.
"Mums and dads in the area rely on these services that we provide and I have spoken to many of them this past week.
"I sincerely thank the parents who helped us and raised their concerns with the NSW and Federal Government directly.
“I thank and support NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Treasurer Dominic Perrottet, and Education Minister Sarah Mitchell and State Member for Prospect Dr Hugh McDermott for listening to our concerns and listening to parents, and for delivering a solution that supports local councils and supports families.
“I would like to express my disappointment with State Member for Granville Ms Julia Finn who chose to criticise Cumberland City Council on two occasions via her social media page and politicise this issue. As one of our local representatives we feel let down that Ms Finn did not reach out to Council offering her assistance to resolve this issue. I feel her stance was short-sighted and most unhelpful in a time of national crisis. In spite of this, we’ve achieved a great outcome.
“We hope that families in our area will be pleased with this outcome, because we certainly are. This result is a major win for working class families across NSW.”
Council is contacting families using these services to make them aware of Council’s updated decision.