Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Skills and Training) Share this | Hansard source

That's right: unions. Have you heard the word? It's alright. Is that okay? Can I quote Innes Willox? Is that okay? Innes Willox, who is head of the AI Group, said that this agreement could not be more timely, and he called it an historic and economy-changing plan. That's what Innes Willox said about this agreement, if that's okay with you. He's right, of course. To fix the massive skills shortage that we inherited and to rebuild and renovate the VET sector, we needed to have this agreement.

It is the first National Skills Agreement in a decade. What were you doing over those last nine years? Nothing! Completely incompetent—unable to deliver any decent agreement with respect to skills and training in this country. We have the Deputy Leader of the Opposition calling fee-free TAFE 'wasteful spending', yet 215,000 Australians are enrolled in courses of demand to supply the skills that our economy needs, that businesses need, and that workers and students need, and we'll continue to work with state and territory governments and industry to supply those needs.

See this speech in context