Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I am now convinced that the Liberals and Nationals do not believe in TAFE. They are doing their best to ensure that TAFE, as a public provider of vocational educational services, withers and dies in New South Wales. The results speak for themselves. The $1 billion that the Turnbull government is cutting from apprenticeships has seen apprentice numbers across Australia plummet from 417,000 in September 2013 to 295,300 in September 2015—in one year, that is 122,400 fewer apprentices in training. This has affected our local community. In Kingsford Smith, apprentice numbers have fallen from 3,211 in June 2014 to 2,137 in March 2015—in one year, that is 1,000 fewer apprentices working and training in our area. The Turnbull government cannot be trusted when it comes to providing people with a vocational education in Australia. The Liberals have cut almost $2.5 billion from the skills and training budget.

In New South Wales the O'Farrell and Baird governments have sacked 3,600 TAFE teachers—out the door! People who are providing training to kids, ensuring they have a pathway to a solid job in the future, have been kicked out. Courses have been cut. At Randwick TAFE a number of courses have been discontinued and course costs have escalated—in one year, the cost of some TAFE courses is 10 times greater. Since the election of the Abbott-Turnbull governments, the Liberals have cut almost $2.5 billion from skills and training, including $1 billion from the apprenticeship program Tools for Your Trade. We have seen a number of cuts in other areas of education as well.

By contrast, Labor will invest in TAFE. Labor believes in TAFE as a public provider of vocational education services. We will do this by guaranteeing that a portion of government funding for vocational education is dedicated to public TAFE. We will also work with the states on a comprehensive national priority plan which will properly define and support TAFE's place at the centre of our vocational education and training system. A Shorten Labor government will undertake a comprehensive national vocational education and training sector review. Our history shows that, when we invest in TAFE, we grow the number of apprentices in training and the number of future jobs for our kids.

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