Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

He is the Prime Minister of this country. If he wanted to do something about TAFE fees, of course he could. More importantly, he could just pick up Labor’s policy. Of course, we have made sure that we have discussed this with the state and territory governments. We know that we have to get an agreement with them to make sure that there is no increase in TAFE fees. It is Labor in opposition that is putting forward the only practical means to get rid of these up-front TAFE fees that are making it so hard for our young apprentices. We have also recognised that something urgently has to be thought up to address the terrible dropout rate in our apprenticeships.

So, once again, it is Labor that has put forward a practical way to address this problem. Labor has proposed a trade completion of $2,000 tax free to go into the pockets of our young apprentices. One of the things you find out when you go around and talk to these kids in their TAFEs and in their workplaces, as we on this side of the House know, is why they drop out. On $6 or $7 an hour, it is very, very hard for them to afford to keep going. So Labor knows that we have to do everything we possibly can to put some money in their pockets—$1,000 halfway through their apprenticeship and another $1,000 at the end of their apprenticeship to keep them in training and to make sure that we do not have 40 per cent of them dropping out of their trade and therefore not going on to fill the very serious gap in skills that we have.

Remembering the figures that were announced in the Prime Minister’s ministerial statement today, when it comes to apprenticeships there is the additional wage subsidy that will go to 10,000 mature age apprentices. The Australian Industry Group says we need 270,000 extra tradespeople. The Prime Minister is going to give this wage subsidy to 10,000. That is his answer to Australia’s skills crisis, to making sure we do something to address what is holding this country back—10,000 against 270,000. Contrast that to the huge suite of policies that Labor has put forward over the last one or two years. They are detailed, costed policies which are all about making sure we get young people at school interested in a trade, that we keep them in the trades, that they can afford to pay their TAFE fees and that they have some money left over in their skills account to do one of the things that the Prime Minister actually announced today.

One of the things that we announced at the beginning of this year as part of the skills account was that anything left over could be used to do business or entrepreneurial courses. So, thank you, Prime Minister, we are glad that you recognise this is a very important issue to pick up. For goodness sake, pick up all the rest of Labor’s policies—Australia urgently needs it. Australia needs it, our families need it and our businesses need it; otherwise, just get out of the way.

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