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

Oh, the hubris of those opposite. Twelve months in government and they are absolutely dripping in hubris, but the Australian public know this lot. What did the Prime Minister say prior to the election, on 2 May 2022? He said, 'We have said we have no intention to make any super changes.' Then again on 31 January 2022, the now Prime Minister said, 'We have not planned for any changes in superannuation.' The Treasurer said on 27 March 2022, 'Look, we said about superannuation that we would maintain the system. Australians shouldn't expect major changes to superannuation if the government changes hands,' yet here we are.

I rise in support of the motion of the member for Moncrieff, who is doing an excellent job in advocating for young people and educators as the shadow minister for youth and early education. Those opposite talk about $1 trillion worth of debt. Clearly, every single time they raise this issue, they are, of course, misleading the House. They talk about $1 trillion worth of coalition debt but, just over the last 12 months, those opposite added $185 billion and around about $250 billion prior to that, when they were in government, to the current debt. You don't hear those members opposite talking about it but almost $400 billion worth of debt has come from them. Interestingly, though, they never talk about it. But in any event, it's not a trillion dollars. I know they are not particularly good at maths but it's a very, very great shame that they continue on about this.

Last week I hosted the shadow Treasurer in Fisher for a series of events with local community and business leaders. We did a community forum. At the community forum, Trent from Birtinya submitted a question about the impact of Labor's budget on young people. He shared his own experience of paying off his HECS debt. Despite Trent having paid $7,000, because of Labor's mismanaged inflation, he has only paid $1,000 off that HECS debt in real terms. The HECS and FEE-HELP systems have allowed Australians from all walks of life to access tertiary and vocational education with an equal footing, and that is really important because trades matter in this country. We should be encouraging more young people into trades, not simply pushing every young person into a tertiary education. We are seeing the fruits of that today. You try and pick up the phone and call a plumber, pick up the phone and call an electrician or a carpenter. These trades are absolutely in such significant shortage. That is because, under Julia Gillard, they changed they changed the tertiary education system, which pushed all young people into the idea, 'If you don't have a tertiary education then you're nobody.' That is very, very unfortunate because what we are now living with in this country is a great shortage in trades. Trades matter. If you get a trade, chances are you'll actually do better in life. You will work for yourself. You will earn more money than those at universities, where those opposite like to indoctrinate young people.

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