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

I thank the member for Lindsay. The government of the state she comes from is not meeting its obligations in the partnership the Commonwealth has with the Australian states on the whole area of vocational and technical education. In particular, in that state of New South Wales, TAFE fees have increased by 150 per cent and 200 per cent in some courses. In fact, even the Australian Education Union in their recent TAFE Futures report have acknowledged that young people are being pushed out of the education system by those TAFE fee increases in New South Wales. We have seen fee increases there to $1,700. I say to the member for Lindsay: keep up the work that you are doing to fight for your constituents on this front.

The Prime Minister today announced a boost of $837 million over five years, which will add to an already record-setting level of expenditure by an Australian government in the area of vocational and technical education. There has never been a government in Australia’s history that has spent as much money as this government is now spending and, in fact, even before today’s announcement, was spending on the area of vocational and technical education. The results are already in, with 403,600 people entering the training system as apprentices this year and 1.7 million people in the training system around the country.

The $408 million in work skills vouchers will give an opportunity to 30,000 people each year to access those vouchers in a way that in fact trusts them to make their own choices and make it work for them. It makes certain that eligible adults aged above 25 years who have not reached a year 12 outcome or a certificate II outcome or the elementary elements of vocational training can enrol in accredited literacy and numeracy courses so that they have an opportunity to make good their ambition and experience, to realise something for themselves and to take on the opportunity to participate even more fully than they might have already in Australia’s economy.

The $306.7 million support for mid-career apprentices will help up to 10,000 apprentices aged 30 and above each year who in fact are in the workforce, who have been there and done that but do not have the piece of paper to prove their ability, to get that piece of paper. It backs the employers as well as the employees in the decision to invest in those people to train. These sorts of initiatives are going to make an enormous difference. These sorts of initiatives are going to add to this record level of funding: the $156.8 million already in the system on support services for employers and Australian apprentices through the Australian apprenticeship centres; the $28.2 million in the $800 toolkit allowance—an allowance that Labor cannot guarantee and that could be under threat if there was ever a change of government but which came in as a result of this government focusing on young people and, in fact, all people in the training system—and the $571 million in the 2006-07 financial year alone for financial incentives to employers to back their decision on the margins to make a difference for their business by investing in their people. Today’s package is going to produce enormous dividends and continue the strong economic circumstance of this country.

See this speech in context