Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I often preface my speeches by reminding the people of Fisher that the coalition want to be a constructive opposition. We'll support good policy, we'll try to make mediocre policy more effective and we'll oppose policies that mean that Australians are forced to pay more for poorer outcomes. We've been able to support good policies, and that's largely because those policies were actually coalition policies. Of late we've had to oppose quite a few policies. Australians are tired of toiling to make ends meet in this cost-of-living crisis. They are beginning to feel the effects of a lazy, sneaky and out-of-touch Labor government that's too busy with vanity projects to address the things that really matter to everyday Australians. Those everyday Australians rely on the coalition to fight for them.

On healthcare access, housing and cybersecurity Labor have dropped the ball time and again. With the budget they had another opportunity to make some promises, and what they delivered is puffery. It was another opportunity for smoke and mirrors. But families and businesses see right through it. They know that Australians always pay more under Labor. During the election we said to the Australian people that life won't be easy under Prime Minister Albanese, and that is proving to be very much—

Well, I think you need to treat the job with respect rather than call him by his surname. We will not support the Jobs and Skills Australia Amendment Bill 2023 without our amendments. We are not blinded by the fresh lick of paint and the hype around the government's Jobs and Skills Australia legislation. We want this body to work because Australians will pay the price if it doesn't, and it will not work without the amendments that we're proposing.

From the outset I remind those opposite that the coalition are steadfast on this issue. If we don't gain the support we need for these amendments, we'll simply be opposing the bill, because, if you don't have the right people at the table speaking up and calling the shots, you don't get ahead. Without good representation, government stifles initiative and shatters confidence because it becomes indifferent, incompetent and out of touch.

Our amendments are not just about assembling a nice committee; they are about ensuring that the ministerial advisory board of the Jobs and Skills Australia agency is truly reflective of modern Australia and truly effective in driving a growth agenda. That's why we're calling for legislated representation for states and territories. An agency as big as the Jobs and Skills Australia body can easily be swept up in high-level conversations which bear totally differently at the local level. Decentralisation of decision-making and representation is crucial if we want to make sure that the agency can actually deliver for all Australians.

The fact is that the needs of Queensland's skilled workforce and employers differ enormously from those in New South Wales and the ACT. In Queensland, training in maritime operations will largely focus on tourism, commercial fishing and local manufacture. In South Australia or WA you might see a different bent, looking at shipbuilding, defence industry or submarine capabilities. In Queensland you might need greater investment in building and construction trades—thanks to the Palaszczuk state government's sustained and brutal attack on the sector we are in desperate need of trades—whereas in the Northern Territory or the ACT you might want to focus investment on health care, allied health and Indigenous primary health. Local context matters and you can't possibly understand the local impact of a policy without engaging those on the ground. That's why state and territory representation matters.

You also need representation from the private sector. Small and family businesses are the backbone of our economy. They employ more people than big corporations and government. Bernard Salt, who is a famous demographer, visited the Sunshine Coast not that long ago and he called the Sunshine Coast the small business capital of the world. We've been called many things in our neck of the woods—we're the most welcoming place on earth and we're the craft beer capital of the country—but it is patently clear that small and family businesses are the heart and soul of our local economy and our way of life, and when we're making decisions around jobs and skills we need small businesses and the private sector at the table.

The owners of a boutique cafe in Currimundi or a restaurant in Mooloolaba will know far better than a public servant or a union hack whether a hospitality graduate will have the skills required to do their job and do it well. A local tax agent in Alexandra Headland or a bookkeeper in Baringa will know best whether a bookkeeping graduate will have what it takes to support their firm. We need to get rid of this idea that government always knows best. I can tell you who knows best, Mr Deputy Speaker Goodenough: it is the out-of-school-hours provider in Kawana, who needs school based care graduates. It's the barber in Beerwah, it's the childcare operator in Palmview and it's the butcher, the builder, the baker and the boilermaker. It's those sorts of businesses whose guts and determination drive our economy.

Real Australian families and their businesses know best. We don't need any more union hacks pulling strings on the taxpayers' purse. We don't need any more politicians and politics graduates telling the government to do this or to do that. What we need are aspirational Australians at the helm and at the heart of government. Small business drives our economy in this country and it belies belief that we would not have small business at the table. One of the most common complaints I hear from small-business people, apart from the fact that they can't get staff, is that when they do get staff from TAFE or from private vocational education training centres—and this is across the board, even whether it be from university—the skills that many young people are coming out of education facilities with are not keeping pace with the needs of industry. I have seen that myself over many years and over many forms of government. Let's face it, industry is changing incredibly rapidly, and if the skills that our educational institutions are teaching people don't keep pace with the needs of employers, then, really, what hope is there for employers? What guarantees are there for employers that when they put young people on—or old people, it doesn't matter—that they will have at least the grounding, the basis, in the skills necessary to be able to do their job?

It's not just about states, territories and employers: geography matters. If you were born in Australia you have really been given the best lot in life. It has been said that the two greatest lotteries in life are the family into which you are born and the country into which you are born. Many of us in this place have those. I know I am one; I won both lotteries—a great family and an incredible country. We are the lucky country; we are the beacon of democracy. We are a strong, advanced economy in a region of small island developing states and developing industrial economies. We are the nation of access to world-class health care, quality education, digital innovation and community safety. But the extent of that access, safety and opportunity is often constrained by where in Australia you call home. That is especially the case under a Labor government. If you live in Brisbane or on the Gold Coast in Queensland you will have little issue in recruiting a skilled workforce, finding a hospital bed or making a standard telephone call. But if you live in Montville you won't get a doctor, because state and federal Labor have made it impossible to start, maintain and grow a GP clinic in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. If you live in the Glass House Mountains you will not be able to phone your loved ones because Labor would rather spend 70 per cent of mobile black spot funds on Labor-held seats. If you live in Aura or Caloundra you won't sleep soundly because right across the state criminals are stealing cars, breaking into homes and assaulting our most vulnerable. If you live in the hinterland you won't be able to access the opportunities available to those on the coastline because, after 30 years of bipartisan support and $1.6 billion from the coalition, this federal and the Labor state government are too busy playing politics to build Sunshine Coast rail.

There's been no action on skilled migrants, no action on the veteran and pension worker earning thresholds and no action on public transport, housing supply or the cost-of-living crisis. Dithering and delays are the privilege of the elite. While Labor plays politics and poses for photos, the fact is regional Australians suffer. That's why we need representatives from regional, rural and remote communities on this committee. These are representatives who know exactly what our regional employers need. They know what regional workforces need to look like, they know how regional education and training differs and they know what kind of infrastructure and services each level of government ought to provide. They need to be at the table, making decisions and amplifying regional voices.

A couple of weeks ago, I hosted the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and the shadow minister for training, small business and women, in my electorate of Fisher. We spoke with gin distillers, fish and chip shop owners, employment services and tourism operators. We met with emerging women leaders. We heard from the Caloundra business community about the highs and lows of business under a Labor federal and a Labor state government. But the highlight for me was a visit to the Sunshine Coast Technical Trade Training Centre. I spoke about the centre, in this place, before the autumn recess. Here is an industry led training school equipping young people in fields like construction, beauty therapy, drone aviation and electrotechnology. Their results speak for themselves, with incredible graduate employment outcomes, tens of thousands of hours of workplace learning and lives transformed by the power of vocational training and the dignity of a meaningful job. This is what effective industry led training can do.

I've had the privilege of having a vocational education. I did a carpentry apprenticeship. I did my training at Holmesglen college of TAFE in Victoria. But I've also had the privilege of going to university and studying as a lawyer. I tell anybody who will listen that, whilst it's great to have a university degree, you should never underestimate the benefits that can flow from vocational education and you should never underestimate the benefits that can flow from getting a trade. And I want to take the opportunity to thank my dear old dad, who convinced me to stick at my apprenticeship. I think I was in about the third year when I was thinking about pulling the pin, and he said: 'Hang in there, son. Another 18 months to go and you'll be right.' And he was right.

Young people who get a trade in Australia can get a job virtually anywhere in the world. Vocational education in this country is, by and large, excellent. There's always room for improvement, but if you get a trade you can go anywhere. Your skills and your qualifications will be recognised just about anywhere in the world.

In closing, it's vital that voices in regional communities, like mine in Fisher, are heard. It's vital that industry providers like the Sunshine Coast Technical Trade Training Centre are given a fair go when it comes to vocational education training, funding and representation. They are leading the way when it comes to innovation and outcomes, and if the government wants to see real outcomes then they need to turn down the voices of the unions and tune into what Australians really need and want. Australians want outcomes. They don't want reviews. They want progress, not platitudes. They want good government, not an opposition in exile—and that means fair representation. I commend the bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.

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