Stuart Henry (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is with a great deal of pleasure that I rise to speak in support of the Australian Technical Colleges (Flexibility in Achieving Australia’s Skills Needs) Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2007, especially as it relates to one of my great passions: developing the opportunities for training, skills development and careers for young Australians through structured, relevant and flexible technical training in schools and training institutions, be they industry centres or TAFE colleges, with appropriate industry involvement and structured workplace learning.

It has certainly been interesting to listen to the diatribe from the member for Calwell and her comments about the Howard government’s failure in skilling up the workforce. The reality is, and the statistics demonstrate, that the Howard government has done much more for apprenticeship training and skills development in this country than any previous government. It demonstrates that we have a very strong growing and expanding economy that provides significant opportunities for new businesses, employment growth and development.

We see that in the unemployment figures that we have in this country, which are at a 30-year low. That very much undermines the argument that has been put by Labor and the member for Calwell with respect to the issue of skills shortages and the reasons for them. It is not about neglect; it is actually about the growth in the economy, unlike when, with the last Labor government, we had the recession we had to have. We had $96 billion worth of debt—

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