Some of those centres closed when they ran out of supplies or their staff feared violence.
The poorest remained in those centres, and it became difficult to provide adequate education.
That's what we've done and those centres on Nauru and Manus are an important part of that".
This will mean relocation for a few, but redundancy for more than 500 people working in those centres.
One of those centres, Caral, has been claimed to be the first urban complex in the Americas.
"We're looking at what we need to do to make sure those centres were safe," she said.
"I understand all of the things that happened, but, ultimately, you just feel sorry for the kids, for whom those centres were lifelines.
Closing hundreds of children's centres in the next four years is not acceptable; instead we need new ways to make those centres sustainable.
"It's hard for me to listen to all those people onstage talk about what those centres are like, because I can picture it.
"As soon as the rumour gets out that there's going to be another cyclone here, I think given what we've just experienced, the numbers in those centres are going to significantly increase," she said.
While this was harsh on those centres that were doing a better job than most, it was not an unreasonable measure as long as something more effective was swiftly installed as a replacement.
