The Australian Prime Minister, Mr Kevin Rudd, has today put forward a proposal that could see Australian childcare centers becoming one stop shops. The proposal seeks to place childcare services, pre-school and child health services together under one roof.

To quote Mr Rudd,

"Under the plan, all parents with children aged up to five would be able to access a one-stop early-childhood center providing maternal and child health services such as baby health checks, baby weighing, feeding advice and vaccinations and long day care, including play-based activity for children whose parents were at work or studying."

Although it will cost many millions of dollars to set up, the ongoing costs may well save money over the years. A scenario such as the one proposed may well identify health and learning problems early. Early detection leads to early solutions. These solutions to problems are often less expensive than if picked up later in life, particularly learning difficulties.

The issue now will come down to whether or not these centers should be run by private companies or by public semi autonomous government organizations (SGO). There are good arguments for both.

Private companies are profit driven and will over time blow out the costs for these types of services. Public SGO's are renown for being admin heavy and terribly inefficient. Either way, the costs are going to be high.

The concept is one that really does need to get off the ground. Can Australia afford a service such as this? I feel the question should be, can we afford not to go down this track? We have to find the funds. The longer term benefits will pay for themselves eventually.

Finally a Government with a little vision. Let's hope it goes beyond just a vision!

Former PM John Howard, despite his love for all things American, will not be one of the older patients opt for face lifts in Maryland brigade.