Australia's Deputy Prime Minister pays a visit

- July 30, 2013

Today was a special day for The Infants’ Home when we welcomed the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, and Kate Ellis, Minister for Early Childhood, Childcare and Youth.

The Deputy PM and Minister Ellis join a drawing session in the new Gorton House.
 

Deputy Prime Minister Albanese and Minister Ellis came to Ashfield to:

• Tour our new Early Education and Care Centre, Gorton House.
• Congratulate The Infants' Home on our recent success in assessments within the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care.

Minister Ellis congratulates Director of Robinson House, Robyn Huber,
and The Infants' Home CEO, Anita Kumar.

Meet the parents, and educators...and children

The Ministers spoke with parents and educators about the importance of early childhood education and care, particularly for those children who have additional needs.

They asked what the parents thought was most important for their children at this early stage of their development.

Our educators gave both Ministers some idea of what constitutes a typical day at The Infants' Home.

Three year-old Harry and 20-something Mel, an educator from Gorton House, share a quiet moment.
 

Question time

Deputy Prime Minister Albanese and Minister Ellis also visited Robinson House, our centre for 2-5 year-olds, which was ranked Exceeding the National Quality Standard under the demanding national quality standards for early childhood education and care.

Even the Deputy PM must wait his turn. Four year-old Max is in no hurry.
 

It was here that the Ministers – both well-known for their skills in the parliament's question time – came under heavy questioning from some of our older and more inquisitive children:

Four year-old Sophia asked Minister Ellis if her boots were warm.

Another almost four year-old, Max, asked Minister Albanese if he liked the slippery slide.

Max from Robinson House shows the politicians how it's done.
 

Then things got a little slippery when almost five year-old Alex asked the Deputy PM: "Where's Kevin?"

For the record, the Prime Minister was in Melbourne launching the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

Long-time supporter

The Australian Government contributed more than $3 million towards the cost of our new $9 million centre, which opened its doors on July 1.

The CEO of The Infants' Home, Anita Kumar, says Deputy Prime Minister Albanese has been a long-time advocate of The Infants' Home.

"Minister Albanese has supported our new centre to satisfy growing community needs and to bridge some of the gaps in service in the inner-west," Anita says.

"Our goal is to continue to create positive and lasting social change in the community by supporting families as they gain the strength, skills and confidence to build a better future for themselves."