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

I am certainly a member of the member for Leichhardt’s fan club and I thank him for this important question. Of course, the member for Leichhardt knows, and I have spoken to him on many occasions, about the need for investment in skills in this country, and last night’s budget contains an important skills package. Today I want to highlight just one part of this important skills package. It is the right time to be generating even more investment in skills, as the budget papers show we are moving towards a full employment environment. In this environment, we want to make sure that young people get a start in life, that they get a trade—an opportunity for a start in life.

Last time our country went through an economic downturn, apprenticeship commencements went through the floor. The really bad news is that, after they went through the floor, it took 14 years for commencements to recover—so sharply down and 14 years to recover. As a result of the global recession, apprenticeships were threatened once again. As a government, we became very concerned as we saw signs, in the 12 months following September 2008, like apprentice and trainee commencements falling by 20 per cent—worrying signs for all.

We could have stood back and done nothing in these circumstances, but, just as we took quick and decisive action to support jobs, we took quick and decisive action to support apprenticeships. This included in October 2009 our $100 million Apprentice Kickstart program, designed to reverse the decline in traditional trade commencements, aimed squarely at young Australians leaving school and provided over the summer months. We also invested in a $145 million package to secure Australian apprenticeships for those apprentices who had become out of trade because of the economic circumstances their employer was facing and needed a new opportunity in order to complete their apprenticeship. The great news is that, taken together, these measures have assisted more than 40,000 businesses in national skill shortage areas, enabled more than 49,000 apprentices to remain in work or complete their training and ensured that around 24,400 young apprentices started in the trades over the summer. That is great news.

As a result of last night’s budget, today we are opening the second phase of Apprentice Kickstart. Today, employers can put on a young person and get special new incentives for doing so. The incentives for putting on that young person have more than tripled. We expect this phase of Apprentice Kickstart over the next six months to support 22,500 commencements. We are focusing this initiative on small- and medium-sized businesses, businesses with fewer than 200 employees. Once again, our target is young Australians aged 19 years and under in the key areas of construction, automotive, mechanical engineering, hospitality and electrotechnology. These are real opportunities for young people, available from today.

Today, together with the member for Eden-Monaro and my ministerial colleague Senator Mark Arbib, I went to Country Energy and I met with a young apprentice called Thomas Watson. I met with his supervisor, who started life as an apprentice, a man called John Bruce, and I met with the overall boss, a man who also started his life as an apprentice, Phillip Green. This proves that getting a trade gives you employment support for life. It is the doorway to great opportunities. We have acted decisively to save jobs. We have acted decisively to save skills. Today I ask Australian employers to get in and take advantage of this program and give a young Australian a fantastic start in life through a trade apprenticeship.

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