Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak against the motion today, obviously, and I'd like to pick up where the member for Dunkley left off, speaking particularly on apprenticeships. This motion is yet another example of how Labor will disregard the facts in order to try and fit their political narrative. We see them do it time and time again. Nowhere is it more evident than in this motion when it comes to apprenticeships, because this government has long been a very keen supporter of apprenticeships. We understand that it's a vital part of education and skills training out there in the community. It's also a recognition that we, unlike the Labor Party, understand that it's not the government that is creating jobs in Australia. Rather, it is Australian businesses, and we need supportive policies that will help Australian businesses to grow their workplaces and grow job opportunities, especially when it comes to apprenticeships.

I had a look at the member for Dunkley's own electorate because I thought this motion must be driven from someplace. How bad is it on the ground in Dunkley that the member is so concerned particularly in terms of the way she was talking about apprenticeships? I had a look. In Dunkley, trade training apprenticeships are up 41 per cent since Labor was last in office. Apprenticeships are up 41 per cent in the member's own electorate, and such is her disgust that she has come in and moved this motion. We can only assume that, if we were to go back to a Labor government, as she would wish, we would see those apprenticeships fall again because those are the policies of the party of which she is a part; whereas, under the coalition government, there are 41 per cent more apprenticeships in her own electorate, for the young people in the area of Dunkley, than there were when Labor last left office.

It's part and parcel of our government's JobTrainer fund: a $2 billion investment in skills supporting over 463,000 low-fee or no-fee courses in areas of skill shortages through TAFEs and registered training organisations. We are on track to make our target of almost half a million job-ready, skilled-up apprentices ready to take on the career of their choice. Let me say that again: half a million young Australians are going to be skilled up and ready to take on jobs because of the apprenticeships provided by the Morrison government. With our extended JobTrainer fund, as outlined in the budget, any Australian can enrol in qualifications in aged care, digital skills, disability care or child care and access a JobTrainer place regardless of their age, employment status or prior qualifications.

Not only are we supercharging the economy to provide more for jobseekers but we are actively investing in the industries of the future to ensure that we don't have skills gaps when it comes to priority workforces—in particular for qualifications in digital skills, aged care, disability care and child care. That is because we want young Australians to be able to pursue their dreams and pursue a job in their chosen field, but we particularly want to make sure that, as they complete their skills training, there are those important jobs for them to go into. In those industries where we might face skills shortages in the future, this presents an opportunity not only to provide them with the training that they need but also to make sure that those industries are catered for. So while Labor come into this place and talk down these important initiatives, talk down the state of the economy and talk down the skill training initiatives, over half a million Australians are going to be job ready because of the JobTrainer Fund. In fact, there will an increase of 40 per cent who are job ready in the electorate of the member who is moving this motion for political purposes.

I want to speak quickly about the out-of-pocket costs of child care. Encouraging greater workforce participation as the economy recovers is particularly important for young families in my electorate of Ryan. Since we came to government, there are more than 280,000 kids in child care than before as a result of us making child care more affordable and accessible. This is every family's own choice to make. But, as a government, we want to make sure that, if parents wish to get back into the workforce and access child care, childcare places are both accessible and affordable. So we will continue with these practical measures—not the political grandstanding of those opposite—to make sure we get Australians into apprenticeships and reduce the cost of living for Australian families.

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