Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

Tom Koutsantonis, the treasurer of the South Australian Labor Party, has been to visit the vocational education college as well.

So now the Labor Party has tried to cast aspersions on a successful vocational education college because it suits their base political purposes. Labor is not interested in outcomes for young people in skills and training. Labor is not interested in outcomes for jobs and growth and investment in our economy. The only thing this Leader of the Opposition is interested in is playing politics: politics on same-sex marriage, for example; politics on Medicare—frightening older people; politics on the backpacker tax right now in the Senate; and now politics on skills and training for young people.

There was absolutely no financial connection between former Senator Bob Day and the North East Vocational College. It went through all the normal processes that such a grant would go through and was awarded on its merits. The Labor Party stands condemned for trying to play politics with it.

See this speech in context