Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

That is a very interesting comment coming from the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd crew! Talk about plotters—you take the cake!

The provision of vocational education and training is a key issue in Western Australia as we transition from the mining construction boom to a more diversified economy over time. In fact, given the financial turnaround we have experienced in Western Australia, it is in my view probably more important in the west than anywhere else in the nation at this time. It is only by diversifying that Western Australia will once again flourish. That is not to suggest that mining does not and will not play an enormous and vital role. It does, and it will continue to do so. It is the bedrock of Western Australia. But we certainly need future growth that will deliver the jobs of tomorrow, and it will come from other sectors as well.

I heard an interesting comment this morning that in 2016 the value of agricultural exports was greater than the value of coal exports. That is why the coalition's National Science and Innovation Program is so vital—and the Prime Minister and the minister should be congratulated. Delivering the jobs of tomorrow requires a vision for tomorrow, and it is a vision that the country is getting from the government today.

However, this vision has to be matched by fiscal responsibility. A responsible government cannot throw money away or send the country into multigenerational debt to buy election lollies. A responsible government would, as this government is doing, invest more than $6 billion every year in the VET sector through funding and concessional loans, including $1.8 billion in payments to the states and territories and $1.4 billion on programs to support apprentices, literacy, numeracy and the VET sector more broadly. And a responsible coalition government is doing exactly that.

In relation to TAFE administration in Western Australia, it is the Western Australian government that manages TAFE, not the Commonwealth. In Western Australia, the state government is currently reviewing TAFE administrative arrangements, as is right and proper. I will be very interested to see the outcome, particularly in relation to my good and high-performing South West Institute of Technology in Bunbury.

It is also essential to comment on the explosion of vocational education providers in Australia resulting from the changes introduced by Labor. We should not forget that the changes were introduced by Labor. Members will no doubt remember the explosion in the number of pink batt installers when Labor announced their ill-fated program. Well, Labor's redesign of VET FEE-HELP opened a similar floodgate and has experienced the same quality control disaster.

We the coalition government had to move to correct this. We have taken many steps to stop the dodgy behaviour allowed and facilitated by Labor's poor design of the VET FEE-HELP system. We have tightened the rules around marketing and enrolment practices so that providers cannot pass off VFH loans as 'free', when clearly they are not. We have made providers more accountable for the actions of their agents and put limits on cold canvassing so that people cannot be hassled in their home, at shopping centres or outside Centrelink. We toughened the rules around enrolments so that students cannot be pressured to sign up for course they cannot complete or actually do not want to do at all. And we made it easier for a person who has been subjected to unacceptable behaviour by a provider to have their student debt cancelled and to have the provider pay the cost. For students under 18 years of age it means that a provider can no longer accept a VFH loan request form unless a parent or guardian has co-signed the form. We have introduced new rules to deal with poor performance by providers, including moving providers to payment in arrears and/or pausing payments for new enrolments.

A healthy, vibrant VET sector is essential to the development of the state of Western Australia and the nation. It is far too important to allow the Labor Party to mess it up even further or turn it into just another of their political tools.

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