Yvette D'Ath (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in support of the Tax Laws Amendment (2008 Measures No. 2) Bill 2008. My comments in support of this bill today go specifically to schedule 5 and, in a small way, to schedule 6 of the proposed bill. As people in my electorate of Petrie are well aware, I am strongly committed to the area of education and training, and to seeing improvements in these areas in the future. That is why it is my pleasure to be speaking about this amendment. The schedule 5 amendment is just another step towards addressing the skills shortage in this country. The people in my electorate and my communities want a federal government that will invest in education and in training—a federal government that has a long-term strategy for addressing the skills crisis and productivity levels in this country.

The Howard government failed my electorate and the Australian people in this task. The member for Bowman today spoke about the government taking responsibility for their actions, yet we are still to see the opposition taking responsibility for their lack of investment in education, training, health, infrastructure and the environment and for the effect that the Work Choices laws had on working families. Last night the Rudd Labor government and the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, announced a budget that commits to the financial investment necessary to deal with the skills crisis.

For too long education and training has been ignored. Investment in education has fallen behind and training has been undervalued. Over the past decade the Howard government failed not only the resource sector but many small and medium businesses across my electorate and across the country by failing to invest in apprenticeships. We became a nation obsessed with university qualifications to the detriment of trade qualifications. We, as a community and as a society, must regain the pride that we held in tradespeople. We must recognise that a trade qualification is just as valuable as a university degree and that a trade is a career path that provides many opportunities. The people that I talk to in my electorate want investment in education. They want investment in training. Adults and students alike want the opportunity to enrol in apprenticeships.

The state governments, with Queensland playing a significant leading role, had been tackling the skills shortage problem for the past few years. The problem is that they had no support from the federal government. They had a federal government that failed to lead the agenda. That is why Labor’s education revolution is essential to this nation and to my community. By reinvesting in our children’s future, by opening up new opportunities to gain skills, we are laying the foundation for a highly skilled workforce. Our aim is to encourage businesses once again to see the important role they play in Australia in establishing and maintaining a skilled workforce. That is why it is the federal government’s responsibility. It is a responsibility that this government, the Labor government, has acknowledged and embraced. Labor’s commitment to establishing trade training centres in all 2,650 secondary schools across the country is a groundbreaking initiative that I strongly support, as do the schools, parents and students throughout my electorate.

The work that schools across my electorate are already undertaking is inspiring, and discussions are occurring throughout the schools about the needs of our local community and our local businesses to determine what the focus of their trade training centres should be. Many older Australians in my electorate understand the importance of trade qualifications. They know the value that the community placed in such skills. They know that people were proud to be tradespeople. We need to restore this pride, this value.

Schedule 5 is another step towards achieving this aim—to encourage our current and future workforce to enter into apprenticeships. Schedule 5 does this by exempting from income tax the first $1,000 of early completion bonuses paid to apprentices by state or territory governments, where certain conditions are met. This exemption plays an important role in addressing the skills shortage in this country, and the measures being taken by the federal government and the Queensland government do address this shortage.

The Queensland government has committed $7.2 million over four years for the new $1,000 bonus scheme for apprentices completing their training early. The early completion bonus is an initiative of the Department of Education, Training and the Arts in Queensland. The bonus became available from 1 January 2007 to apprentices, in apprenticeships from selected skill shortage industry sectors, who complete their apprenticeships early. To be eligible apprentices must complete their apprenticeship at least six months early, in the case of full-time apprenticeships, or 12 months in the case of part-time apprenticeships. The selected skills shortage industry sectors of automotive, construction—including general, civil and off-site—engineering, hospitality and electro technology are the targets of this initiative and under each of those categories there is quite a long list of certificate III trade qualifications that are available and considered to be skill shortage industry occupations that would be entitled to this $1,000 bonus. The bonus arises from a number of actions identified by the Queensland skills plan, which was launched by the Queensland government on 8 March 2006. These actions include dealing with the demand for skilled tradespeople, attracting more people into apprenticeships and making apprenticeships work better for apprentices and employers. The bonus addresses these actions by applying only to identified apprenticeships where there are skills shortages, acting as an incentive to attract more people into apprenticeships and encouraging early completion, and making apprenticeships work better for both apprentices and employers, through an increased awareness and implementation of competency based training.

Since the introduction of the program, 2,871 apprentices have received a payment of $1,000 each for early completion. Four hundred and thirty-three of these apprentices—approximately 15 per cent—were employed in the Brisbane north region. The fact that in the past 12 months 433 additional trade qualified workers have been able to enter the workforce earlier than otherwise may have occurred is exciting news for north Brisbane and my electorate of Petrie. Of course, as this initiative is only 12 months old, it is expected that these numbers will continue to grow over the coming years. According to ABS 2006 census data, in the electorate of Petrie, males between the ages of 15 and 19 years have a 12.2 per cent unemployment rate. For ages 20 to 24 years, there is a seven per cent unemployment rate. For females in the electorate between the ages of 15 and 19 years there is a 9.6 per cent unemployment rate; and between the ages of 20 and 24 years there is a 6.3 per cent unemployment rate. In total, for ages 15 to 19 years there is a 10.9 per cent unemployment rate, and between the ages of 20 and 24 years there is a 6.6 per cent unemployment rate. In addition, areas such as the Redcliffe Peninsula have a median weekly household income of $774 compared to the Brisbane region’s $1,157. Initiatives to encourage individuals into apprenticeships and the early completion of apprenticeships are vital for our youth and low-income workers in the community. The benefits of obtaining a skill in a skill shortage occupation increase the likelihood of full-time employment and higher earnings. That is why I support this bill and will continue to promote the benefits of a trade qualification.

Having been a member of the Training and Employment Recognition Council for many years, I am aware of the need to address the skills shortage in this country and that new initiatives need to be implemented to assist in achieving this aim. The Queensland government are moving forward in their efforts to address the skills shortage through the release of the Queensland skills plan. The federal government now has the opportunity to build on that initiative through its education revolution and the new directions for vocational education and training.

As recently as last Friday, I had the opportunity to visit Craigslea State High School in my electorate. I was there to witness the school being awarded accreditation with the Council of International Schools. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Craigslea State High School on this significant achievement. I know that the school has worked extremely hard over the past two years to achieve this recognition. In addition, while at the school, I had the opportunity to inspect the school’s new commercial kitchen. The school strives for excellence, and that is clearly evident in the efforts it has gone to in establishing a fully functioning commercial kitchen that reflects, and in many cases is superior to, a normal workplace environment in the hospitality sector.

The school is currently delivering certificates I, II and III qualifications in hospitality. It is exciting to see a school delivering Certificate III in Hospitality Operations as this course contains units from food and beverage and also commercial cookery. The certificate III also counts as eight credits towards the student’s Queensland secondary education. The benefit of the school based apprenticeship and traineeship system is that it ensures that students leave school with multiple pathways to pursue a career. Upon completing their secondary schooling, students who have completed the Certificate III in Hospitality Operations with Craigslea State High School will be able to, if they desire, enrol in the Certificate III in Hospitality (Commercial Cookery) and have units of competency recognised as prior learning. This is important in addressing the skills shortage in Queensland as the Certificate III in Hospitality (Commercial Cookery) is a recognised skill shortage occupation and forms one of the apprenticeships that the early completion bonus applies to.

To show the holistic approach to further education, students who are enrolled in a school based apprenticeship and who then enter into a full-time or part-time apprenticeship in a skill shortage occupation after their schooling is complete would be able to access the early completion bonus if they finish within the eligible period. This is just another incentive to get trade qualified workers into the workforce sooner. These facts emphasise the need for the amendment before this House. To tax this bonus is to take away the primary purpose of the bonus: to act as an incentive to apprentices to complete their qualification early. This amendment is needed because currently this bonus is characterised as income. This proposed amendment will directly benefit many in Queensland who are currently undertaking, and who will undertake in the future, apprenticeships in skill shortage occupations. It is for these reasons that I support the amendments as prescribed in schedule 5 of this bill.

In relation to schedule 6, I am pleased to support an amendment to the tax laws that will give recognition as deductible gift recipients to a number of organisations that fulfil important roles in our community. This not only will allow for tax deductions for donors who currently give to these organisations but hopefully will encourage new donors and larger donations in the future. The following organisations appear in schedule 6 of the amendment bill: World Youth Day 2008 Trust, the Council of Jewish Community Security, Wheelchairs for Kids Inc., Memorials Development Committee Ltd, AE2 Commemorative Foundation Ltd, Ian Thorpe’s Fountain for Youth Ltd, Amy Gillett Foundation, the Spirit of Australia Foundation and Playgroup Australia Inc. Each of these organisations plays an important role, the significance of which has been covered by some of the other speakers to this bill including the member for Melbourne Ports, the member for Maribyrnong and the member for Isaacs. It is appropriate for this government to provide what assistance it can to these organisations through this amendment, to encourage and support donations to these organisations.

I would like to give a special mention to Playgroup Australia, who recently celebrated National Playgroup Week and World’s Biggest Playgroup Day 2008. Bill Shorten and I joined the Chermside West playgroup for their morning playgroup session recently. I also had the opportunity to attend the World’s Biggest Playgroup Day ‘Pollies at Play’ held at the Speaker’s Green at Queensland Parliament House. Of course, many events were held all around Queensland and Australia during National Playgroup Week, and I take this opportunity to congratulate Playgroup Australia for their fantastic efforts in organising those events. I am sure many parents and children alike enjoyed the day and appreciate the work of Playgroup in providing a social and safe environment for both parents and children. This bill will benefit many in the electorate of Petrie and I am pleased to commend it to the House.

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