Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Hansard source

The Labor party hasn't changed—more grubby lies and smears from them. If they were any lower in the gutter they'd be covered in mud from head to toe. You'd expect the opposition to come forward to commend the government as the only advanced economy on the planet that has more of their citizens employed now than pre-pandemic, but, no, we don't hear of that. We don't hear of saying to the government the economic growth in the last quarter, the March quarter, is at 1.8 per cent quarter growth, one of the leading growth targets in the OECD. No, we don't hear a whole lot about that. But then, again, we don't hear a whole lot from the opposition anyway.

The budget is securing Australia's recovery through protecting jobs today and making it easier for Australians to get a job or hire an employee tomorrow. The government's committing more than $2.7 billion in the already successful Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements program and the subsidy we paid for a full 12 months from commencement so that we can ensure employers and apprentices realise the full value of this excellent program.

We're also expanding the billion dollar JobTrainer Fund to continue the delivery of low-fee or free training places in areas of skill needs. JobTrainer will ensure Australians can access critical skills and will support more than 450,000 new places to upskill jobseekers and young people across the country.

We're also ensuring as many Australians are connected with work as possible. That's why the Morrison government will deliver the biggest transformation of employment services in the last couple of decades to better support Australians into jobs, commencing from 1 July next year. The model places jobseekers in the driver's seat of their journey from welfare into work, with safeguards to ensure that we don't leave people behind. We're committing $481 million in support for vulnerable and disadvantaged young Australians, providing them with tailored support as part of the Transition to Work program. The Morrison government's Local Jobs Program will significantly expand, at a cost of $213 million over four years, almost doubling the number of regions in the Local Jobs Program. The budget will also ensure Australians can upskill and reskill to get a job and set up our future workforce. We'll invest $30 million to develop a new training register, and a national digital Australian apprenticeship portal will be established as a one-stop shop to help employers manage their apprenticeship workforces and for apprentices to understand their entitlements.

In securing our recovery, the government will continue to support small and family business, because we all know they are the engine room, very much the backbone, of the economy. There is $45 million in tailored programs, including $8 million for a two-year Go Local First campaign to encourage all Australians to shop locally. This budget will see us through the crucial next steps in our economic recovery, and it's a budget that will set us up for the next decade.

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