Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kingston for bringing this matter forward. It is a critical matter and I know many of those opposite have made light of it, but, in a period of rising unemployment, particularly youth unemployment, I would have thought that trade training centres should have pre-eminence in discussion in this parliament. I find it very interesting that those opposite want to try to belittle this project and tell us all of its shortcomings. For those of us who have been in this parliament for more than one term, let me tell you that the line-up of those opposite when there was a photo opportunity at the opening of another trade training centre in their electorates was just astounding. It was like playing Where's Wally?—you had these people just popping up. They wanted to be part of the action. As a matter of fact, in the last term of government, so many people from the Liberal and National side lobbied so heavily on behalf of their schools and local business communities that it was extraordinary. A lot of trade training centres were opened in their electorates. Now they want to stand here and say that they do not work. They say that because they are part of a government that has cut up to $40 billion from health and education. In vocational education—training and skills education—they have taken $2 billion out of the system, including the $950 million out of trade training centres.

I do not know about those opposite, but I am very proud of the electorate I represent. I represent the most multicultural electorate in the whole of Australia, bar none. The diversity and vibrancy are something to be proud of, but one of the things I am not so proud of is the fact that we have high unemployment, including high youth unemployment. For my part, I will go out every day and lobby to see if we can do something about providing for vocational education and training, to help young people transition from school into employment. I notice there are a lot of young people in the gallery today. I would like to think that we can stand here, look these young people in the eye and say, 'We are going to give you a future,' not simply argue about dollars and cents and why you want to cut the program.

Bear in mind, we were not the party who came to this parliament, saying, 'We will not cut education.'

See this speech in context