Townsville is a long way physically from where I sit at my workplace in Sydney – but when I read a news article headed ‘Comments on Women create Furor’ which appeared in the Townsville Bulletin – I thought it is not just 2000kms away – more like a century a way.

“TOWNSVILLE identity Max Tomlinson is in hot water after declaring most women do not possess the drive and determination men ‘innately’ have.”

There are 7 billion people on the planet – half of which are female, and the ‘enlightened’ Max Tomlinson lumps every woman into one box – and states every man as a ‘go-getter’. I have met my fair share of ‘nurturing warm hearted’ men in my time – as well as ‘hard nosed’ women. If there is one thing that is sure – hormones alone do not predetermine a human-beings disposition.

Surely this man cannot be serious… has he not read anything about the changes in our community and the value different people bring to business. I wonder what he would think of  ‘The End of Men’ article.

I suspect that this must be a publicity stunt of some sort. (And I have probably just furthered his cause by highlighting it.) Simply it does nothing to add to the debate. Whilst we will all have a bit of fun naming Tomlinson as a Luddite – what it does do is distract from the real issues that need debating.

Who in our community is taking a bigger view of what the world could be like if we shifted our thoughts about how our post industrial revolution society is constructed.

I pose the question ‘what growth opportunities would be available to our economy if we could attract more women back to the work force in any capacity (ie flexible hours) because childcare was readily available and community based? What would happen if there was free childcare available to all Australian families?

Let’s be outrageous ourselves – (given that the Luddites are) – and challenge our governments to consider the idea of free childcare. . (Though I do note that I have been invited by Tanya Plibersek to a public forum on 3 May at Annandale Public School to debate current issues in childcare in Sydney, I’m only invited because I live in her electorate and she is inviting all residents)

I am in the privileged position of meeting many people – and whether male or female – as soon as the conversation turns to children, the juggle and struggle stories are shared. I think it is time that we let others know what it is really like; that is the cost to the community and the growth of the economy of having to battle with childcare.

We are about to launch a website so that people have a place to leave their story – when people unite to become one large voice – those in power will listen to that voice.

If you have a moment and a story you would like to share about how you manage childcare – Please add it the FreeChildcareAustralia site.

We cannot let the Luddites keep us in the last century.