Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in favour of the Jobs and Skills Australia Amendment Bill 2023. This is further proof of the Albanese government getting on with the job of governing, doing what's best for our country and delivering on what we committed to do before the election. Jobs and Skills Australia's establishment was, after all, one of the earlier commitments of an incoming Albanese Labor government. We're talking all the way back in October 2019. As for a time line, this was within six months of the 2019 federal election, less than six months after the Prime Minister became the leader of the federal parliamentary Labor Party. He was already leading a team committed to fixing the big problems and making inroads on big-ticket reforms. When people use criticisms of small target in the lead up to the last election, this, frankly, provides myself and many others on this side of the chamber ample ammunition to launch a riposte against such claims with a tidy rebuttal.

After the Australian people entrusted the Albanese government to enact our policy agenda, this government has relentlessly gone about fulfilling its election commitments on the floor of this place. This is, after all, a bit different to the previous government, where they would say one thing and do another, often having exposure drafts of bills stagnating in the ether after a strongly worded media release and interviews saying the policy at the time truly reflected their core beliefs or it was something they promised at an election. Near the end, those opposite, in government, may have been a bitterly divided bunch on so many issues, but, for all the divisions they possess, they really did make kicking the can up the hill a team sport. Whether the divisions were about personalities, whether they were about introducing the anticorruption commission or whether they were disagreeing over whether a beloved ice cream had gone woke, the fault lines were obvious to see even from the perspective of a lay observer.

This couldn't be more clearly contrasted by the approach taken by the Albanese Labor government. In fact, the creation of Jobs and Skills Australia was the very first bill introduced into this place by the Minister of Skills and Training, and I believe it was even possibly the first bill introduced to this place by the Albanese Labor government in the infancy of the 47th Parliament. This provided a complimentary stage for one of the hallmarks of our new government after last year's election: the Jobs and Skills Summit, bringing together key stakeholders, bringing together state and territory governments, bringing together education and training providers, bringing together employers and employer groups from a vast array of sectors throughout our diverse labour market, big business and small business and employee groups too—although I should really call a spade a spade, rather than skirting around the risk of treating those on the other side of the chamber that possess slightly more delicate sensibilities and constitutions, so what I mean to say is: unions. There, I said it: unions. Perhaps I should provide a bit of a warning next time in case someone on the other side of the chamber just so happens to be taking a sip of water and starts to feel a bit faint.

Unions, despite the chagrin of one side of this chamber, play an invaluable role in this dynamic, given their representation of the labour proportion of the labour market. As soon as we all start to accept the off-chance that all of those groups just might be able to work in collaboration with one another to act in the national interest, we can make great inroads to enacting enduring reforms. The name 'Jobs and Skills Australia' gives the game away for what we're looking to reform, and I hope to touch a bit on each of those two aspects in the context of what the agency now hopes to deliver in a more permanent capacity. But first we must face the facts and look at the reason why it is important for our government—or, indeed, the federal government—to be doing this in the first place.

As far as the OECD countries are concerned, Australia has the second-highest labour shortage, and closing the borders during the pandemic certainly highlighted these shortfalls in our labour market. This outlook is coupled with the fact that replenishing the labour supply shortfall is impacted by our difficulties in filling vacancies in a number of domestic industries, an aim that we would like to achieve first and foremost. This need was identified by Labor well before the pandemic had begun. But by the time it touched down on Australian soil and began to alter our definition of things such as what a new normal was, the need for addressing the skills shortages became extremely apparent to us all. Though fixing skills shortages in the wake of short- and medium-term disruptions is one thing, it is vitally important to ensure that longer-term thinking is in place, which is why you need a structure for doing so that can withstand the test of time. Without such an outlook, we'd just stumble between labour market review after review, and any corrective action would appear simply reactive with the chance of achieving real outcomes at the point of exercising a strategy looking less methodological and more speculative in nature.

In order to achieve the overarching aims of this bill and the remit of Jobs and Skills Australia, we must first address some inconvenient truths. It is estimated that currently there are three million Australians lacking the fundamental skills that are required to participate in training and secure work. In fact, out of our top 20 most in-demand industries, many of which we would consider critical, seven have supply-side shortages mainly caused by skills shortages. This is coupled with relatively stable and low levels of unemployment and an increasing number of job advertisements being posted, yet at the same time we have what would initially appear to be paradoxically increasing levels of underemployment. We need to make sure we take a holistic approach in order to ensure we have people seeking the skills and qualifications that seek out jobs that are in demand and those that are going to remain in high demand for years to come.

These are immediate-term problems, but we cannot ignore looking at the longer-term outlook either, an outlook where it is estimated that nine out of 10 new jobs will require further education or training beyond secondary school, four of which require VET qualifications. In fact, in the latest labour market update, 60 per cent of employment growth occurred in jobs requiring a vocational qualification—60 per cent. If that isn't enough proof of the importance of the work that the Albanese Labor government intends for Jobs and Skills Australia, I don't know what is. Having state governments as an intrinsic part of this process aids this even further. State governments from time to time have lost sight of the role that they play, but we need to include them in the process where those on all sides of the table are crying out for investment in vocational education and a focus on a number of occupations requiring these qualifications. You would hope an evidence based approach would help them correct their course, although, failing that, sometimes it takes a state or territory election for this to take place.

A good example of this is at the front of my mind from my home state of South Australia, where we had the previous Liberal state government gutting TAFE at a time the country was desperate for workers to fill shortfalls in many industries where the qualifications for those jobs were obtainable through TAFE. Luckily, in March last year a change of government occurred in South Australia—a change of principles, a change of priorities—and this preceded a change of government in Canberra a few months afterwards. This change was such a tectonic shift that we saw the Peter Malinauskas led South Australian state government be the first to sign up to and partner with the Albanese government to deliver thousands of fee-free TAFE placements. This further helped to reduce our skills shortages in South Australia by reducing barriers to entry for many people who would have had second and third thoughts about undertaking vocational education due to the cost.

In fact, only a few weeks ago I delighted to have both the Minister for Skills and Training and South Australia's Minister for Education, Training and Skills, Blair Boyer, in my electorate of Spence to visit TAFE in Elizabeth and see some of the good work by both the students and staff. Visiting TAFE at this location was that bit more special, knowing that we were seeing people studying to enter the workforce in many in-demand jobs and these skills were being imparted effectively in the heart of Spence. Though the member for Sturt worked in the engine room of the former Liberal state government, I do note some pertinent points from his contribution to this debat I completely agree with the point made by the member where he notes that South Australia is a major beneficiary of the AUKUS submarine build, along with a vast number of defence industry manufacturing projects. South Australia must be keenly aware of the need to ensure we have a workforce in training to play an active part in building up Australia's sovereign capabilities.

Jobs and Skills Australia would go a long way to ensuring this. Jobs and Skills Australia looks at the current needs of our labour market whilst, on the other hand, forecasting—with guidance from industry, key stakeholders, education and training providers and state governments—the medium and long-term requirements for our labour force moving forward.

Whilst listening to members opposite, I also noted that, for the most part, the opposition has been significantly more agreeable to providing the government with their support on this bill, and I note some of the contributions made by those opposite in the course of this debate as evidence of that, to a point. This extends from the Education and Employment Legislation Committee's inquiry on the provisions of this bill conducted by the other place. While the coalition submitted a dissenting report to that inquiry, it ultimately led to a general tenor of support for the bill—after they'd bemoaned unions being an interested party to the strengthening of our labour force. Those opposite had a full nine years to destroy the union movement. And boy, did they try! But they didn't finish the job, so they really have to grin and bear it—the reality that unions play an intrinsic role in our labour force and have been a part of many great advances and reforms in that space over many decades.

I do note, from that report, the very broad level of support for this bill across interested stakeholders, a group as diverse as it is large. I'm glad that those opposite saw some writing on the wall, in the face of the supportive consensus across education and training peak bodies, unions and employer groups and business groups both large and small. I note, though, a very similar wide net of support for the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation Bill too, and, sadly, as we all know, those opposite fought tooth and nail to shut it down. I'm sure a balance was struck between joining in on furthering our national interest and ensuring they weren't caught being the sole detractor, slowly slipping into irrelevance in this policy area. I'm certainly glad that this is not yet another episode of Groundhog Day for those opposite.

It stands to reason that a body such as Jobs and Skills Australia is one that should stand the test of time, subject to the review provisions placed in this bill. Without touching too much on the original legislation, I feel it is important to do so, to an extent, to provide the House with some much-needed additional context to the measures that are being put forward by this Jobs and Skills Australia Amendment Bill. The initial legislation, from its beginnings in this parliament, was intended as the first tranche, not only establishing the statutory body Jobs and Skills Australia but doing so in a manner that would see it grow in a way that was seen as fit for purpose by the main stakeholder groups that would have cause to have regular dealings with Jobs and Skills Australia. This speaks to the government's tripartite approach to Jobs and Skills Australia.

This leads us to the next phase in the process: the legislation currently before the parliament—the Jobs and Skills Australia Amendment Bill. In broad strokes, this bill will establish the ongoing model of governance and the various structures of this statutory body, as well as mapping out its key functions as a body that can stand on its own two feet and provide advice to government and to stakeholders consistent with its functions.

In its interim form, Jobs and Skills Australia is headed by a director, though the role of the director of this authority is intended to be replaced with that of a commissioner and up to two additional deputy commissioners. The appointment of Peter Dawkins, AO, an emeritus professor of economics at Victoria University, as the authority's seemingly first and only director, is a very eminent appointment indeed. This is, I hope, where the bar is set for the calibre of persons that are to oversee this authority moving forward.

As part of this bill, it's intended that Jobs and Skills Australia will have established within it a ministerial advisory board. The ministerial advisory board is where the spirit of Jobs and Skills Australia can really take shape. It will consist of, amongst several additional options in the criteria prescribed by this bill, state and territory representatives; various industry stakeholders; education and training providers; and—trigger warning for those on the other side of the chamber again—unions.

Jobs and Skills Australia is much like the union movement—here to stay and to provide a positive influence within Australia's labour market. Jobs and Skills Australia will lead to many benefits to workers and to businesses small and large. With this bill, through monitoring and forecasting the labour market, we can address the critical shortages of tomorrow today. I commend the bill to the House and encourage all members to support Jobs and Skills Australia, so that our country can reap the many benefits that cooperative, evidence based, public-policy decision-making can accomplish—a hallmark of this government. I thank the House.

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