Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kingston for the opportunity to speak on this matter because this is another example of Labor's failure in government, when they attempted to do too much, too quickly in a way that was not well considered or planned out. When you look at the whole federal government's record over a long period of time, this was a very ideological moment when it came to office. The Gillard government wanted to wipe Howard government technical colleges even though they were very successful, and they were successful because they partnered with industry.

It was not just as the member for Kingston said: 'also' you have got to talk about industry. Industry was at the front and centre of the Australian Technical Colleges because it was about getting young people jobs—getting young people work. There is no point giving people skills if they cannot get work. There is no point giving people skills if they cannot find work in the field they are looking in. Of course, we know half have failed to find work under this model. We know that only 20 per cent have achieved work in their relevant field.

Those stats are damning. They are damning because this was an overambitious program—yet another one from the Gillard-Rudd government—which has not achieved what it was supposed to achieve. That is because they tried to put a technical college into 2,650 schools. How many were achieved? Only 260, and 250 underway, when we took office. Of course, it was massive, epic failure because government tried to do too much. Industry tells us that if you do not concentrate skills and work in partnership with the sectors you will not achieve work for these young people, and that is exactly what is happening. So the government is perfectly within its rights to say what is working and, more importantly, what is not working—what is failing young people.

Ms Rishworth interjecting—

It is not just a question of spending money, money that you do not earn, money that you do not have, member for Kingston, money that you are borrowing off foreigners—money that you are borrowing and paying interest on in our future. You are mortgaging our future. That is the money you are borrowing. You do not have the money, and if you do not have it you need to spend it very wisely. If you look at the technical colleges, they were so successful because they partnered with people like the master builders, the master plumbers, the master painters, the National Electrical and Communications Association, restaurants and catering.

Ms Rishworth interjecting—

If you speak to industry, if you get out into the real world, member for Kingston, and speak to industry, they will tell you the technical college model worked precisely because of that partnership. It took kids from disadvantaged backgrounds, it gave them the skills, it partnered them with the work, and they got the jobs. There was one just down the road from me in the electorate of Greenway at Blacktown, the Anglican Technical College. If you spoke to the master plumbers there—which I do not imagine the member for Kingston has because she has not been out consulting with the industry—and if you consult with the industry they will tell you there is no point. Kids were getting certificate IIIs in bricklaying but they could not lay a brick. That is what they will tell you. Those poor young people could not go back into the training system because they have already had their certificate III. They were qualified. They could not get a job because they did not do the work. That is what the master builders will tell you.

Ms Rishworth interjecting—

That is what they will tell you, member for Kingston. You can laugh all you want. But it is not your money you are throwing down the drain. It is not your young people that you are seeing that cannot get a job. That is the reality of this failed program. The government needs to now make the best of a bad situation. It does not even make a lot of sense that you can put a school system that is not geared at skills and work—this technical skills and technical knowledge—into a higher education system.

Two thousand six hundred and fifty is too ambitious. You are never going to achieve it, and that was the reality of what happened. There was no money attached. There was no funding on an ongoing basis. Of course, let's establish 2,650. They thought the press release was the work. This was the Gillard government at work. You issue a press release and that is the job done. You have accomplished 2,650 new technical colleges—in every school in the country—because it is written down on a piece of paper released from the Prime Minister's office. The reality is there was no money attached to fund these trade training centres. There was no money attached on an initial basis because only a few hundred were established and there was no ongoing funding.

It makes more sense to concentrate what you are doing. It makes more sense to have technical colleges where there is expertise concentrated, and you cannot do every single school in the country. No government ever will. You will never have a government that does it, and we will not be able to achieve it either. You need to concentrate the skills, spend the money wisely and make sure you are 100 per cent focused on working with industry to get young people jobs. That should be at the centre of the policy, not an adjunct, not something you say in the last second of your speech: and we are going to work with industry. Industry is what it is all about. Getting people jobs is what it is all about. There is no point having the skills if you cannot get a job, and this government is going to make sure this money is well spent and we get those young people jobs.

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