Peta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australia faces a skills shortage today but we also face a shortage of the skills that we need for tomorrow. Our skills system suffers from a lack of planning so that we can meet business needs and so that we can help people of all ages to make good decisions about their skills needs so that we can ensure that our economy is building the workforce it needs not just for today but for tomorrow. We know that our economy is changing and we know that it brings with it new policy needs in the digital economy, the clean economy, in health and care, and in new manufacturing. This changing world can no longer afford a lazy, passive government with no sense of aspiration and purpose because the Australian people, Australian businesses, Australian investors and Australian communities all have a sense of purpose and aspire to have a government that joins them in that.

In my electorate, the Carrum Downs and Seaford industrial precincts are hubs of new manufacturing. These are committed businesses and workers. They want to see a commitment to a future made in Australia. They want the skills system to work for them. They want a federal government that is on their side. They need a federal Labor government. They want Australia to take climate crisis as an opportunity to become a renewable manufacturing superpower. They want commitment to net zero by 2050 to be more than mere words. A changing economy creates new opportunities and, with it, new needs. The next generation of jobs investment and export opportunities demands that we bring skills and industry policy together to always be planning for the needs of today and tomorrow, because that's what Labor governments do. Skills policy can enable many more workers to participate productively in new industries, but we will need to do some things differently. We might need to look at new frameworks of microcredentials, for example, that could be stacked into full qualifications. We need to foster practical options at the local level—in our suburbs and our regions—and through our TAFEs. Our public TAFEs must always be at the heart of it.

Recently I held a manufacturing roundtable with local manufacturers from Carrum and Seaford. The most common theme was a lack of skilled workers. Spiralworks in Carrum Downs cannot find local qualified welders. How can that be? In fact, the situation is so dire that South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance are developing a pilot for microcredentials, and I'm meeting with them and Richard Marles soon to discuss the project.

We need to take this opportunity to fundamentally rethink how we train our own people. We need to reimagine and rebuild our skills system after the Joyce-Morrison government's savage treatment of our public universities and TAFEs. That's why Labor has a plan for a future made in Australia: a national rail manufacturing plan, a defence industry development strategy, an Australian skills guarantee and a 10-point buy Australian plan to leverage investment by government for future skills and work for Australian communities. That's what my community needs; that's what Australia needs. (Time expired)

See this speech in context