Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Ensuring Australians are skilled for work is vital to our nation's ongoing prosperity. Skilling Australians will be crucial as we look for improved productivity gains in the economy to help navigate the significant economic challenges we face as a nation, and it is vital we get this legislation and this statutory body right. I see firsthand the frustrations of worker shortages every time I'm out across my electorate. From cafes to supermarkets, from the construction sector to agriculture, worker shortages are impacting businesses right across Casey.

The Jobs and Skills Australia Amendment Bill 2023 is the second form of legislation relating to Jobs and Skills Australia. It seeks to finalise governance arrangements for the agency. The bill states the minister must commence a review into the operation of the act within two years and must prepare a report to be tabled in parliament annually that examines Australia's current, emerging and future skills and training priorities. The bill establishes a ministerial advisory board for Jobs and Skills Australia, composed of a chair, two members representing the interests of the states and territories, three members representing employer organisations and three members representing employee organisations—also known as union officials.

This is important because this setup means that 25 per cent of this board's representation—with the scope to increase it to 50 per cent—can be union officials. This is despite union members making up 12.5 per cent of employees. Since 1992, the proportion of employees who are trade union members has fallen from 41 per cent to that 12.5 per cent. So there's a clear mismatch in the overrepresentation of union officials on this vital board that's making these decisions.

While they don't like to admit it, the reality is that the Albanese Labor government inherited a booming skills and training sector from the former coalition government. We prioritised the skills and training needs of Australians. Through investing in young people, we are investing in our future. We must ensure we have skilled workers in the industries that help our nation thrive. But this, particularly when upskilling our young workers, is not just about that economic benefit. It is really about the dignity of work and giving them a great purpose to get up and have something to wake up to and do during the day. They can benefit not only today but also into the future.

I'm really fortunate to have spent time at an organisation called Ranges TEC. When I was there recently, I ran into a person that I've known for many years, a young man called James. James and I used to play soccer together. He was about 15 or 16 when we played together three or four years ago, so he couldn't drive. I had the opportunity to drive him from our town of Lilydale—we were playing for Lilydale Montrose United—into the city, to Albert Park, so we had over an hour to talk together. It was wonderful to talk to him about his life. This is well before my time here in this House. He was sharing about the new training that he'd undertaken at Ranges TEC, and you could see the passion and the excitement in his eyes. The school system hadn't worked for him, and this had given him real purpose and a real passion he'd been lacking, particularly during those challenging years of lockdowns—it was between lockdowns at this time. That gave him hope.

Recently when I was at Ranges TEC with the opposition leader and Senator Cash I ran into James. It was great to see him doing cooking. That was what he was focusing on as part of that unit. In talking to him I saw how much Ranges TEC and the training and skills he had learnt had impacted not just his job opportunities but also his confidence and his will to get out and make something of his life. That is just one example of the importance of getting these training and skills opportunities right, because they not only support personal development but also support the wider community and the economy and put our nation in a strong position for the future.

That's why the coalition has been constructive when it comes to Jobs and Skills Australia. We supported its establishment when we debated the bill in September 2022—and I will always support legislation that supports people into meaningful work—but we're not prepared to give the government a blank cheque to create taxpayer funded board roles to fill the pockets of union representatives.

Jobs and Skills Australia is an important agency that will be charged with identifying skills needs across our economy and developing policies that reflect those needs. It's about building Australia's workforce for today and for the future. It will also play a vital role in advising our national migration program and providing advice on reform to current skills and education systems. This is important and meaningful work that will shape the future of our nation. It cannot be overshadowed by Labor's instincts to help out their union mates.

The former coalition government had stronger momentum when it came to skills and training. We established the National Skills Commission to provide evidence leadership on the skills we need for our workforce today and tomorrow. Labor have effectively rebranded that commission and now they want to make room for their union mates to have their say over the future of Australian jobs and skills.

The amendments we've introduced will remove the mandate of three members of employee organisations on the ministerial advisory board of Jobs and Skills Australia. We are requesting the inclusion of a small-business representative and two rural, regional and remote representatives. A broader skill set on the board will create equitable outcomes for all Australians in the field of jobs and skills.

I spoke before about how union members make up 12.5 per cent of employees yet have up to 50 per cent representation on this board. Small businesses make up 97 per cent of all businesses and don't have a voice on this board. They suffer greatly from skill shortages because they don't have the HR departments of big business, the recruiting firms and the ability to recruit like big business does. They don't have the ability to train internally, like many large organisations do. It's so important that this board represents small businesses to make sure they can get the skilled workers they need to ensure they can grow, flourish and become even bigger businesses. Small businesses are the heartbeat of the economy not just in my community of Casey but also across the nation. They employ 4.7 million people nationally and they have the opportunity to employ even more if they can get the skilled people to go into those positions.

We need a voice for rural, regional and remote areas because they have different challenges to many other areas. I will use the Yarra Valley in my electorate of Casey as an example. One of the challenges for regional and remote communities is that they generally have really concentrated industry bound by geography. In the Yarra Valley we have a wonderful wine industry, but they have challenges getting skilled workers because they need workers who are trained in viticulture and also in hospitality. You need to get the match right between the organisations in the regions, the opportunities that businesses are looking for, and the workers who can neatly meet those needs. There's no point training people in the Yarra Valley in an area that doesn't have any job opportunities. We need to make sure that people, in particular young people, see the opportunities and are being trained in viticulture, in this example, so they can stay local and stay within their communities, have well-paid jobs, and contribute to a growing industry. That's something that's unique to remote and regional areas, and it's why we need those representatives on this board—to make sure that those geographical challenges and those unique opportunities are also maximised.

We strongly believe that each state and territory should be represented on the ministerial advisory board. Two representatives across all the states and territories cannot represent all their needs, because, again, each state has unique challenges. The state of Victoria, which I'm proud to live in, has significantly different challenges from WA or Queensland, for example, so it's important that each state has their own voice on this committee. We also know that many states, if not all states, have their own jobs and skills agencies. How are we going to make sure that they're coordinated at a federal level, at a state level and down to the local community level? Having a representative from each state will help to ensure that that representation is there, that the board is more balanced and that more local voices will be heard. The question for Labor really is what do they value more: a representative board with balanced voices from across the country or jobs earmarked for union officials?

Our amendment will also mandate the review to occur no later than 12 months after the commencement of this section. This is really important. There's a great rule called the one-in-100 rule. That rule says that, if an aeroplane is flying with one degree of error, for every 100 kilometres flown, it can miss its target by a kilometre. That just shows that, if you're off a little bit and you don't adjust course early, you can end up a long way away from where you need to be. So it's so important that we review this earlier because we know that there is a skills crisis and businesses are struggling today. They need solutions. They can't afford to wait longer than necessary if we're not delivering what we need to. If things aren't working, we need to know so we can make sure that we're addressing that and that we're helping business and we're helping those people looking for work. It's more important that we get the review done earlier if there are issues.

As I have said, the coalition had a strong record in skills and training. We invested over $13 billion into the skills sector following the beginning of the pandemic, including a record $7.8 billion in our final year in office. I'm reminded of the importance of these investments every time I'm out in my community. Casey has the highest number of people in the building and construction trade per capita. We trumped Flinders 15.7 per cent to 15.4 per cent, as announced by the Master Builders Association back in February. We will always have strong numbers in trades, and this is partly due to the amazing work of Ranges TEC.

I recently visited Ranges TEC and had conversations with the students there who were learning hands-on skills in trades. They are setting themselves up for a successful career on the tools, with the amazing staff at Ranges TEC right behind them. That's why I'm so proud of the previous coalition government's record when it comes to skills and training. We ensured that apprentices were protected, with our wage subsidy measures, and supported jobseekers and young people to get the skills they need for the future, with our low or fee-free training through our $2.1 billion JobTrainer Fund. We delivered a record 240,000 trade apprentices, the highest number since 1963. We also helped small businesses invest in the skills of their employees through our Skills and Training Boost. The list goes on.

We established 10 industry training hubs, which we promised at the 2019 election, to create more jobs for young people. Since then, hundreds of local stakeholders have connected, developing projects to meet local needs and create jobs. It's all about getting local kids into high-demand, high-quality local jobs. We ensured young people in the industry training hubs regions could access Commonwealth scholarships, which included up to $13,000 for eligible VET qualifications and target occupations, because family income should not stop anyone working towards the career they want to be in. Ultimately, all this was shown at the macro level by the unemployment level of 3.5 per cent when we left government and the new government came in. We showed we were getting more people than ever back into work.

Like I said, we've been cooperative in the space of jobs and skills, but we won't give Labor a blank cheque to create jobs for their union mates. Jobs and Skills Australia does important work that cannot be overshadowed by Labor's inclination to help out their union mates. I'm supporting the coalition amendments on this bill.

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