Thirty years after the dismissal of the Whitlam Government, the Australian political, economic and social landscape is dominated by discourses of economic rationalism. The reification of market forces presents challenges for early childhood professionals seeking to establish a viable future trajectory for children's services that includes universal access to affordable, high-quality centre-based long day care services. This article argues that political activism, grounded in critical imagination, critical literacy and critical action, can assist in addressing this challenge. (Contains 4 endnotes.)