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

I rise in support of the motion moved by my colleague the member for Holt. I'm extremely pleased to see the member for Holt moving a motion on TAFE, especially one that highlights the Albanese Labor government's efforts to ease barriers to entry to study for many students, particularly those which will help to reduce critical labour shortages in the short, medium and long term. There is a reason for this to be a policy imperative of the Albanese Labor government. As we all know, the Morrison liberal government gave many gifts to the incoming Labor government. Instead of being bestowed with the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, we instead got $1 trillion of liberal government debt, years of stagnating wage growth and, of course, a labour and skills shortage. Those gifts are distinguished quite dramatically from gold, frankincense and myrrh, and they weren't given to us by three wise men either. In fact, when it comes to the labour shortage, the OECD regards Australia as having the second-worst labour shortage in the developed world.

We can go as far back as October 2019 for the first signs of our government making steps to address this. These steps, for anyone with a calendar open, are a bit shy of being three whole years prior to taking office. The positive inroads with establishing Jobs and Skills Australia and following through on that commitment were effectively the first plank of actualising a policy like fee-free TAFE. Getting major employers in the same room with state and territory governments, the federal government and unions to assess where the short-term holes in our labour market are and, in the next breath, to look towards the future and assessing where these gaps will be in the medium- and long-term future if not adequately addressed is public policy done right.

I was absolutely delighted to hear in November last year that it was my state of South Australia that signed the very first skills agreement with the Commonwealth government. The enthusiasm to be the first state to take part in this may very well have something to do with a Labor government being elected in South Australia earlier that year. You have premier in Peter Malinauskas and an education minister in Blair Boyer that were all too keen to address South Australia's skills shortages and also to empower many South Australians to upskill themselves into careers that will give them a good chance of long and gainful employment through expanding their horizons with vocational educational and training. I could see that commitment when South Australia's education minister, Blair Boyer, accompanied me, along with the minister for skills and training, in visiting TAFE Elizabeth. Talking to a number of staff at TAFE who are passionate about providing vocational training to many eager students is one thing, but to hear from some students who have benefited directly from this policy is something that everyone from ministers down to local members such as me ought to do. To hear from students who have all read an article or two telling them what the jobs are of tomorrow is one thing, but to have a government policy making it easier for them to make the choice to make that sea change certainly amounts to an example of why we are here doing our day jobs as parliamentarians.

Fee-free TAFE is not just something that is working but something that we as a country have been long overdue for. Having a policy borne out of tripartite discussion between the education sector, unions, big business, small business and state and territory governments putting advice to the federal government about what the needs of the labour force are and what they believe them to be puts self-interest to one side and the national interest at the forefront of the discussion, as things should be. The need for this in the discussion is paramount, because in the next five years nine out of every 10 new jobs will require a post-school qualification, with four out of those being jobs requiring vocational education.

Accordingly, the Albanese government sees this as both a problem and an opportunity. With fee-free TAFE, the government is investing in our human capital, investing in the careers and livelihoods of many Australians that this policy will not just touch but alter the trajectory of their working lives for the better. Many students undertake vocational training for a number of reasons, whether it is to upskill the base of skills they have already acquired, whether it is to get into a field they are passionate about, or whether it is seeking out a career path that is futureproof for years to come. Those reasons, as diverse and varied as they may be, find commonality in many of those career paths now benefiting from fee-free TAFE pathways. For many, that is something that makes undertaking vocational education a possibility rather than an aspiration for when circumstances in their life better allow for it.

This is why I stand with my colleagues in support of the Albanese Labor government's policy for fee-free TAFE, and I look forward to Australia reaping its benefits for years to come by lifting people up, not pushing them down.

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