Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank the member for Indi for her contribution to this debate. As I was sitting here listening to what she was talking about, it struck me that what she's really talking about is the interconnectedness of all these issues, particularly for rural and regional Australians, whom we both have the great privilege of representing—I in Tasmania and she in Indi. Pay, conditions, access to amenities for partners and children, telecommunications, housing and opportunities are interconnected issues that require a range of policy responses to address. For example, you can't get nurses in remote areas if they can't get internet, because they want to be able to watch the shows that they enjoy and also stay connected to family, such as by catching up with the kids who may be living in the city while they're working in the bush. It's things like that that the government is cognisant of and is addressing—things like fee-free TAFE, which I'm pleased the member for Indi acknowledged. She's given feedback on how well it's going. It's a terrific endorsement of the government's policy, and I thank the Minister for Skills and Training for leading this. Four hundred and eighty thousand Australians are taking advantage of fee-free TAFE. The Housing Australia Future Fund, which we're still hopeful of getting a solution on in the Senate, will deliver 30,000 homes across Australia over the next five years. On regional internet rollout, the minister's doing a terrific job getting regional internet rolling out. And, of course, there is the 15 per cent aged-care pay rise that the government announced in the budget. It's all interconnected.

I'm on my feet today to talk about another terrific endorsement. We are talking about the Trade Support Loans Amendment Bill 2023, which will expand access to income-contingent loans for Australian apprentices. This is a bipartisan initiative, so I thank the opposition for their support for this. The bill broadens the eligibility criteria for trade support loans, making the system fairer and more inclusive by addressing key issues and decision points. In doing so, we foster a stronger apprenticeship system that better supports apprentices across various occupations and helps bridge that national skills gap that we hear so much about. It's something that will benefit apprentices across Australia, especially in my electorate.

This bill extends the eligibility for income-contingent loans to all Australian apprentices working in priority occupations, including those in the non-trade care sectors such as aged care, child care and disability care. We've said it before and we'll say it again: there is a tsunami of need across these three critical areas—aged care, child care and disability care. We desperately need workforce in these areas, particularly in rural and regional Australia. There are great opportunities out there, but it must be said that the United Workers Union did a survey recently. They had 7,000 respondents to this survey of their members in, I think, early child care—early learning I think it's called now, and the minister, I'm sure, will correct me—

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