Politics & Council
18 March, 2026
Fed’s $5m childcare promise used to ‘mop up state mess’
THE Federal Government’s 2025 election eve commitment of $5 million for childcare in Loddon had been used to mop up the State Government’s mess, member for Mallee Anne Webster said in Parliament.
She used a member’s statement to raise concerns after the commitment was allocated to the new State Government childcare centre in Wedderburn, drawing criticism from advocates in Inglewood and Boort and also Loddon Shire.
The Wedderburn centre was built last year and opened last month, weeks before a new Federal-State funding partnership was announced, dashing hopes of further action on the shire’s childcare shortage.
“People have to travel—and I know one who has to travel 200km a day in order to take their child to childcare. This is ridiculous. It’s beyond ridiculous,” Dr Webster told Parliament.
“What we had in the 2025 election was the Labor candidate announcing another $5 million for a new child care in Loddon Shire,” she said.
“Well, what happened? Suddenly, we have the new minister for child care saying, ‘Oh, it actually wasn’t a new child care’—actually, she said it was for a new child care, but we found out in this last week that it is not a new childcare.
“It is just mopping up the mess of state Labor’s lack of funding for the Wedderburn childcare centre,” Dr Webster said during Parliamentary debate.