Gary Hardgrave (Moreton, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

and the first step was of course to identify their needs. It is certainly not government’s fault alone that there are not enough people where businesses themselves want them. But at the end of it this government is working hard on that, with record amounts of money—far more money than Labor ever imagined they would put towards the training system. We are also very much dedicated to the task of saying to business, ‘If you plan for the sort of workforce you want, we will give a training system in a way that will make sure that your needs are met when you need them.’ We are in partnership with the eight state and territory governments, who themselves have a variety of responses that conflict with that general approach.

The mining industry certainly does train people—there is no doubt about that—but it is absolutely fundamental that major industries such as mining continue to understand that these days, unlike when Labor was in office when there was a large pool of unemployed for them to draw upon, there are far fewer unemployed in this country and so the commitment to training has to be redoubled and has to start in the boardrooms and work its way out. As Paul Caica, the South Australian minister, said, governments alone cannot do this. It is important that business plays its part.

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