Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I support these bills, the Jobs and Skills Australia Bill 2022 and the Jobs and Skills Australia (National Skills Commissioner Repeal) Bill 2022. On National TAFE Day, I want to thank the students, teachers and trainers in my electorate, particularly at places like Bundamba TAFE in the south-west. I was there last week talking to apprentices who were training as baristas, chefs, cooks, mechanics and hairdressers. I want to thank them for the work they do. It is so important in my local community.

Just listening to previous speakers from the coalition, it was almost like they had forgotten the captains of industry who have supported this legislation. ACCI, AiG, BCA and others have supported Jobs and Skills Australia. Listening to coalition speakers, there's just an extraordinary disconnect. It goes to show why they lost the last federal election and why they are out of office. The first bill here delivers one of Labor's key election commitments, establishing Jobs and Skills Australia. The second bill repeals the National Skills Commissioner Act 2020. The staff and resources of the previous commission will be transferred to Jobs and Skills Australia. The previous commission, the National Skills Commission, had an advisory function, but it lacked independence and any form of strategic approach that it's necessary that Labor's Jobs and Skills Australia will bring.

Jobs and Skills Australia will be a cornerstone of this government. This is one of the first pieces of legislation that this Labor government has brought into being. In fact, despite what coalition members have talked about this evening, there is a two-stage legislative process. If they bothered to read the bill and understand what it is about, they would see the first thing is about establishing Jobs and Skills Australia, giving it full remit and legislative governance arrangements. It will be informed by consultation with states and territories, grounded by our commitment to a tripartite model in dealing with state and territory governments, employers, unions, industry and other community organisations, particularly those in the training field. So this is really crucial. It's part of the suite of policies that this Labor government will bring, whether it's in areas like: the new skills program; the New Energy Apprenticeships, $100 million to support 10,000 new apprentices in our new energy areas; our TAFE Technology Fund; or our Australian Skills Guarantee, which is so critical, training thousands of workers—one in 10 on major Commonwealth government projects will be an apprentice, training or cadet. It's absolutely crucial that we do this. There are the fee-free TAFE places that we are bringing forward, arising out of the summit that took place just last week.

The economic challenges we as a country face are immense, brought on very much by nine years of neglect in this space. You can't cut $3 billion out of skills, TAFE and training and not expect there to be a consequence. There were 70,000 fewer apprenticeships and trainees at the conclusion of this coalition government's term in May this year than there were when we last lost office in 2013. The consequences of cuts and of not working with states and territory governments, industry, unions and TAFE is there for all to see. They told people who were so critical to industries like hospitality, retail, agriculture and the meat industry to just go home. That's what the Morrison government said during COVID. 'Just leave the country.'

We're seeing that in the greatest demographic shift since 1991 in this country. The latest ABS data shows clearly the consequence in terms of the demographic shift among states and territories—between regions and capital cities. We're seeing the consequence in industries. We need collaboration and cooperation in industry with various groups—workers, trainees, unions, training providers. That's what we need. It must be across portfolios and across ministries and at state and territory level as well.

The last week's Jobs and Skills Summit was absolutely critical to harnessing the energy, vitality, creativity and intelligence of the Australian community. This government is committed to ensuring full employment, productivity growth and better participation for women, for minority groups, for our First Nations people, for people living with disability and for vulnerable people in our community, to harness their strength and their capacities, and to make sure they're involved. It's not just an equity and justice issue; it's about our economic development and participation as we go forward. It's about reducing barriers to employment so that all can participate, and we saw the result with dozens of initiatives announced just last week. That included the additional $1 billion dollars for the joint federal and state funding for fee-free TAFE places and the acceleration of those places; assistance to pensioners and veteran pensioners to get age pensioners and veterans working more without the loss of their social security payments; the modernisation of workplace laws to improve bargaining and make them more accessible for workers and businesses in a cooperative, collaborative way; and amending the Fair Work Act to strengthen access to flexible work arrangements. We need to do all of these things. An increase in the migration program up to 195,000 places in 2022-23 will help ease widespread critical workforce shortages.

On 10 August we had our own Jobs and Skills Summit in Blair. It featured presentations from the Tivoli Social Enterprises, a community faith-based organisation operating out of the Ipswich suburb of Tivoli at the old drive-in. It's more than movies, as CEO Pastor Fred Muys says. The enterprise provides training through skilling Queenslanders for work in hospitality, conservation and land management, construction, business, youth work and more. This is a great initiative of the Labor government in Queensland. Tragically, even before a report into the program was initiated and delivered to the then Coalition government, Campbell Newman's LNP government scrapped the program. It had great adverse impact on people's apprenticeships and traineeships in Queensland. Fortunately, the Palaszczuk Labor government has brought it back, and it's been my privilege to attend a number of those graduations, where people, with hope in their hearts, can clutch a certificate and recognise the opportunities they gain with those certificates. But so many people, when I turn up to those programs, don't actually go to the graduation, because they're in employment because that program works. That's the kind of dynamic creativity we need in this country. We need people to learn on the job. This social enterprise—a drive-in and kitchen—is preparing food for customers and distributing up to 2½ thousand pre-cooked meals to needy families. This is not just in my electorate but also in the electorate of Wright, and elsewhere. It runs major events at various times.

It's also involved in eco land management and developing koala habitat, because, if we don't preserve our koala habitat soon, we'll be looking at koalas in museums. This was a site of relief during the recent floods. So you can see jobs and skills have a connection to land management, ecosystems, flood relief and a whole range of areas. You can't isolate jobs and skills and think that it has no impact on the economy, on community or on national development.

There is a meat-processing plant in my electorate, at Dinmore—the largest in the country: JBS Foods. The second largest is at Kilcoy Global Foods in the northern part of my electorate, in rural Somerset. JBS Northern Division's chief operating officer, Anthony Pratt, spoke at the jobs and skills summit at Brothers Leagues Club Ipswich. He talked about the fact that JBS's capacity is 823 workers short, and that's at Dinmore alone—this is the biggest meat-processing establishment in the country. It mirrors the issues that Kilcoy Global Foods, who I met with recently, have up there in getting skilled workers to work in the rural township of Kilcoy. They're relying very much on skilled workers from the Philippines and elsewhere, many of whom go on to become Australian citizens and make their homes in the Kilcoy and Somerset region.

Sadly, when the former government left office they left a massive backlog of unprocessed visa applications in skilled areas as well—at least four times as many as the former Labor government left in 2013. I want to acknowledge the minister, who is at the table there, in addressing this issue and getting things moving again. It's absolutely critical. Hundreds of extra frontline experienced public servants are dealing with this issue. This is all related, and this is the tragedy and the travesty of this former government. They sit over there in impotence and are not part of the conversation for dealing with jobs and skills in this country. They're just not. They have not listened to the words of ACCI, AiG, the BCA and many business organisations and employers—COSBOA as well. They've just ruled themselves out of this conversation.

Many issues were raised in the Blair jobs summit and these issues are absolutely crucial—for example, in the area of clean energy. James Sturges of eleXsys talked about the opportunities in the skills and training area for our local community. There are shortages across 51 different trades in the energy sector alone. But this is the mob over there who had 22 energy policies, and some of them didn't even last 12 hours! They couldn't even last until question time! James outlined some of the opportunities in clean energy and the relevant technology, and ways to reduce costs and to look at better jobs and skills in our local area. I'm committed to making sure we have community based renewable energy hubs, including a community battery based in Ipswich. Industrial hubs and estates could generate power and deliver cost savings across a number of businesses.

There are opportunities in the circular economy as well—for example, one of the interesting participants in the Blair jobs summit was Pastor Billy Dean from the Raceview Congregational Church. Through their Men's Shed, they're involved in the recycling of plastic. There are opportunities in that area for jobs and skills. He talked about what they do through their Men's Shed in creating a cleaner and better environment, and also in providing job opportunities in the recycling industry.

The interaction, shall I say, with housing is important also, and this is one of the things that came up that shows why this piece of jobs and skills legislation is so critical: it can't be divorced from it. The Housing Australia Future Fund, the $10 billion commitment that this Labor government will initiate, will be crucial for our First Nations people, for veterans, for essential workers, for women and children fleeing domestic and family violence and for social housing alone. It's absolutely crucial. In our area we've seen a growing housing problem and a growing homelessness problem, and that was exacerbated by the floods. So the interaction between housing, jobs and skills can't be ignored.

We had evidence from employers at our local jobs and skills summit about the relationship between getting proper housing. In my area, the fastest-growing area in South-East Queensland, the Ipswich area, it's about getting proper and better housing so that we can get those apprentices and jobs in those areas. We heard evidence from employers, whether in the health industry, in the meat industry or in the defence industry, who had to go to motels for their staff because there wasn't enough construction of housing in our local area. There are opportunities for welders, for apprentices and for electricians and a whole range of areas, and these are the areas that I want Jobs and Skills Australia to look at. In my community we made a submission to the Jobs and Skills Summit, and I look forward to our local community also making a contribution to the white paper.

This legislation is absolutely critical, and I wish those opposite would read bills instead of talking points. Have a look at the bill. Have a look at what's there, in the bills, before you come into this place and talking nonsense with Liberal-National talking points. It's important you look at the bill. That's really, really critical in the circumstances.

I want to commend the Minister for Skills and Training for the bills before this chamber. It's a tragedy for our country that those opposite failed to work on jobs and skills. It's been left to a Labor government to take action. It's absolutely critical we do it for my local community, for South-East Queensland and for across the country. We need a government with vision and a government with commitment on jobs and skills, not a government that cuts apprenticeships and traineeships and cuts funding for TAFE.

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