Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

notwithstanding the jeering of those opposite, who care so little about the jobs of their fellow Australians. This economic stimulus will support over 200,000 jobs. This economic stimulus is not only supporting jobs today whilst we build the infrastructure that we need for tomorrow; it is supporting training efforts today. In that regard I would direct members’ attention to the fact that in the Building the Education Revolution program there is a requirement that at least 10 per cent of the total contract hours should be undertaken by apprentices, trainees and those seeking to upskill. I would have thought that that would have been endorsed as good news by anyone who cares about the next generation of skilled tradespeople. This is against a background where the National Centre for Vocational Education Research has told us, in its recent statistics, that the number of Australians who started a trade apprenticeship fell in the March quarter, by 22 per cent, compared to the same time last year. These figures prove that we are not out of the woods, that we need to support employment in our economy and that we need to support training efforts in our economy. Our economic stimulus package is doing just that, our Building the Education Revolution package is doing just that and we will continue to deliver them, notwithstanding the jeering and criticism of those opposite, who care so little about the jobs of Australians.

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