Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Spence for bringing this motion to the House. Indeed, I'd like to congratulate him for doing so. I know the member is a passionate advocate for working people and fights hard to not only protect the conditions of workers in his electorate but also to create real opportunities for the future. I want to thank the Minister for Skills and Training, Brendan O'Connor, the member for Gorton, for the government's introduction of a suite of policies to help address this nation's significant skills and labour shortages.

A future made in Australia must mean that we make things locally and that we make them here. The landmark five-year National Skills Agreement will embed national cooperation and strategic investment in our vocational education and training sector. The Albanese government is prepared to invest $12.6 billion to expand and transform access to the VET sector, support quality training and implement reforms to address critical skills needs. If states and territories access all the Commonwealth funding available under the National Skills Agreement, the combined investment by governments would exceed $30 billion over five years.

In an historic first, a new national stewardship model will coordinate strategic investment in skills across the economy and support delivery of skills needed in national priority areas, as well as providing states and territories with flexibility to meet local industry skills needs. The agreement places TAFE at the heart of the VET sector with TAFEs to be supported by baseline funding commitments. Ours is a government that believes in a whole-of-government approach to governance so that industries are secured, so that supply chains are revived, so that families can once again have the job security that has allowed so many people in my electorate to build a life for themselves and their family, and so that we can secure our nation's economic security through a sovereign capability that can help our economy become crisis proof.

That's why I am proud of our government's efforts with policies that include the Australian Skills Guarantee, which will ensure one in 10 workers on major federally funded government projects is an apprentice, trainee or cadet—this translates to a commitment to training thousands of workers. Our Fee-Free TAFE places are delivering 465,000 fee-free TAFE places, including 45,000 new places, and includes those for students studying in industries of national importance and those facing skills shortages. And the TAFE Technology Fund ensures that at least 70 per cent of Commonwealth VET funding is for public TAFE.

Calwell is home to the Kangan Institute of TAFE in Broadmeadows, an institution that is doing great work towards skills training in key sectors of our local and national economy, whether it be in trades, business, IT, justice, community, children's services, hospitality, animals, plants and sciences. I also want to thank them for their collaboration and support at the Kangan Institute Skills and Jobs Centre, with their on-the-tools experience facilitated by the AMWU and Women Onsite.

Our Future Made in Australia Skills Plan, covering a number of commitments made as part of the government's $1.2 billion Future Made in Australia Skills Plan, is helping close the gap on key areas of skills shortage. New energy apprenticeships will encourage Australians to train in the new energy jobs of the future and provide the additional support they need to complete their training. That's a funding commitment of $100 million to support 10,000 new energy apprenticeships and a new energy skills program to develop fit-for-purpose training pathways for new energy industry jobs.

We've seen the success of this government's policies and their real-world impact. Fee-free TAFE and VET has been such a success that we're committing a further $414.1 million to deliver an additional 300,000 places nationally to begin next year. The fee-free TAFE initiative has had overwhelming success in its first year, exceeding the 180,000 enrolment target by almost 40,000 students, hitting nearly 215,000 enrolments. Fee-free TAFE is providing substantial savings to students and providing post-secondary education to students who might not otherwise have had the opportunity to pursue it. It's been a real game changer across Victoria and in my electorate, with more than 152,000 students saving more than $384 million in tuition fees since the program began in 2019. The Albanese Labor government's strong commitment to skills and training towards productive employment means that we invest in the skills and the workforce of the future.

See this speech in context