Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The member for 'refugee boats on freeways' chips in. Let's look at how much industry support you have given young people since you have come to government. How many thousands of jobs have been lost in manufacturing and automotive and the airline industry since you came to government? You have walked away from looking after young people and their future. The only thing that the government have done is saddle young people, who may not have the silver spoon in their mouth like many opposite have, with a lifetime of debt. They have taken away the support for apprenticeships. Those opposite say, 'Young people, they're using their money for tattoos.' What an absolute joke.

I got an email from an RTO this morning. The printing industry is on its knees in this country because this government walks away from industry. It says to young people, 'Earn, learn or leave,' but for industry this government walked away. It does not support industry and it does not support young people. This RTO wrote talking about the tools of trade cuts that are already affecting his apprentices. He said, 'Basically, our apprentices signed a contract on the basis that they would receive funding over the term of $5,500.' What those opposite never mention is that they have cut the funding from 30 June. Apprentices already signed up are being left on the scrap heap. He also said:

Some of our apprentices have purchased tools and now they will be left out of pocket. The printing trade already has a skills shortage and this just makes it harder, especially in our regional areas.

A government member interjecting—

You're a printer? I have got four generations of printers in my family. It is a disgrace that you are allowing the industry to be punched offshore. Already out of that $5,500 they have to pay colleges $1,350 a year to do the course. That is not tattoos. That is not mag wheels. What is disgraceful is the way you expect young people to be left on their own.

Take a 29-year-old fella in, say, Sunbury with a couple of kids. Thanks to this government failing industry, he loses his job at Ford, through no fault of his own but through the government failing to support industry and support jobs. He now has to say to his family: 'We can't pay the mortgage and we can't pay for food because I've got no job. And, by the way, thanks to the mean-spirited, deceitful government that we have in this country, I don't get any access to Newstart.' There is no support at all. They are left on their own and expected to fend for themselves. What do you think the outcome is going to be for those families and those young people who want to get ahead? This government rejects young people— (Time expired)

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