Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Cunningham for her question. I congratulate her on her first speech to the parliament just before question time and I look forward to her making an outstanding contribution for the people of the Illawarra. The Jobs and Skills Summit exceeded, I think, everyone's expectations. The fact is that it was a resounding success that changed the whole mood of politics and the way that it's conducted. We brought together business, unions, community leaders, people from across the political spectrum—with one little group excepted—and all those who are interested in creating a fair-wage, strong-growth, high-productivity economy going forward, all those who understood that the skills crisis is something that's developed over the last decade and needs addressing, all those who understood that enterprise bargaining at the moment isn't working to lift productivity and it's not working to lift wages either. As a result of the cooperative approach, we came up with 36 concrete outcomes, including $1.1 billion in additional federal and state funding for fee-free TAFE from 2023. Just for the next financial year, that is 180,000 places. I thank the premiers and chief ministers from throughout the country, from across the political spectrum, who joined with us in that.

There will be a permanent migration program increase to 195,000, allowing student visa holders to work more and clearing the visa backlog that this government inherited, where there were a million people waiting for their visas. There will be an additional 500 workers there. There will be more flexibility in the National Housing Infrastructure Facility to encourage private sector and superannuation investment, making an enormous difference going forward.

Across the board, there was a constructive approach. People came and didn't just try to dig a deeper trench in the same old battlefield. People put aside their differences. They participated constructively. It will be remembered and contrasted with the 1983 summit, where there was just one woman represented. This time around, it was fifty-fifty representation. The summit showed that bringing people together—the premiers and chief ministers, business, unions, the Business Council, COSBOA—sitting down with unions and sitting down with workers is constructive. I think Jennifer Westacott summed it up when she said:

I think the summit has been a great opportunity to reset and to really seize the future.

It's a pity some of those opposite don't want to be a part of the future. (Time expired)

See this speech in context