Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister went to the election last year saying that we would prioritise TAFE and that we would value skills, because he understands that when we have skill shortages we don't just backfill with temporary overseas labour. We seize the opportunity to train our young people, and retrain and value our workers, to create the new well-paid jobs of the future. His leadership and his vision for TAFE landed an historic $12 billion National Skills Agreement that will translate to $1.2 billion in Western Australia alone. Alongside our commitment to fee-free TAFE, the government is seriously changing lives. Together, we went and met with students studying Certificate IV in Electronics and Communications. Until our introduction of fee-free TAFE, there were only seven students studying this course. Was it because they were not interested? Absolutely not. It was because it was unaffordable at $3,700. Today, 85 students are studying this course. An increase from 18,000 to 34,000 students across Western Australia are studying fee-free TAFE because it's affordable now. It's free. It's accessible. They want to learn. They want to upskill and to have the jobs of the future.

Prioritising TAFE and much-needed skills: delivered. Working cooperatively with the states: delivered. Meaningful cost-of-living relief: delivered. This Albanese government is a government that has a vision that delivers.

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