10 things Rita Saffioti: Labor’s full-time kindy program to give families more choice, flexibility

1. First things first. If you’ve followed this column the last few months, you’ll know I coach my daughter’s six-a-side football team. Well, our mighty Smurfs fell at the last hurdle. After being undefeated for the whole season, we lost the grand final. Hard fought 2-1 loss, but very proud of the girls. 2. Luckily, I organised a small trophy for each of the players with “minor premiers” inscribed on them. Nothing like a small trophy and a visit to Yo-Chi afterwards to take away the pain. 3. School has started now for WA families. Hopefully everyone has got back into the swing of things. I’m trialling some new lunch combinations in my household. Leftover pasta and homemade chicken schnitzel. Let’s see how long it lasts until I revert back to cheese sandwiches. 4. On the topic of school costs, I was pleased to stand with Premier Roger Cook and announce that should our Government be re-elected, families will receive another round of the WA Student Assistance Payment from term two. That’s $250 for every secondary school student and $150 for every primary and kindergarten student. 5. This week we also announced a re-elected Cook Government would pilot a voluntary full-time four-year-old kindy program, to give families more choice and flexibility in raising their children. As a mother of three kids (at one point with three under the age of two, while working!) I remember how challenging the juggle was trying to balance work and raising kids. This means more choice for families to do what’s right for their kids. 6. If you didn’t see it earlier this week, our housing market continues to grow in strength. More than 21,000 new homes approved in 2024 and the strongest growth in new home builds in the country. This is good news for those West Australians looking for a new home. 7. I’ve read some astounding things in my time, but Liberal leader Libby Mettam’s recent commentary calling our landmark program to cap the cost of regional airfares a “thought bubble” is right up there. When I travel to places like Geraldton, Karratha, Kalgoorlie and Albany, our capped airfares scheme is always supported, because it makes a massive difference to regional families. Libby Mettam and the Liberals are a risk to this scheme. 8. Our summer of free public transport has been another massive success. More than 13 million free bus and train journeys were taken. It’s clear that when you make public transport more affordable, people leave the car at home. That’s why we’re going to make travel cheaper with our single suburban flat fare. Under the new fare, you’ll only pay $2.80 to travel anywhere on our public transport network. Oh, and the Liberals still oppose it. 9. What are the odds? Last weekend when I was out working, I received a panicked phone call from my 15-year-old. She described to me how my other daughter stepped on some nail clippers, which she left open next to her bed, leading to a 2cm insertion in her foot. A lot of blood and stitches later, my daughter recovered just in time for the Smurfs’ grand final. 10. Happy Chinese New Year! Wishing everyone a fantastic year ahead. Gong Xi Fa Cai!