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

Firstly, I thank the member for Parramatta for his question and his very strong advocacy for the VET sector and TAFE in his electorate and beyond. I'd like to start by informing the House that 355,557 Australians enrolled in fee-free TAFE in 2023. That's almost double; that's smashing the original targets set at the Jobs and Skills Summit. Of course, like any good government policy, fee-free TAFE serves more than one end and benefits many. It removes cost barriers to much-needed skills for students, apprentices and workers. It provides skills to businesses and the labour market, and in doing so it provides more carers to care for older Australians. It provides more electricians to help with the transition in the economy. It also provides more tradies to help build homes and public infrastructure.

The government fully understands that without the right investment in education and training, whether that's universities or TAFE, we will not have the pipeline of skills we need to decarbonise the economy. We will not have the right skills to ensure the optimal use of the National Reconstruction Fund or to improve health services or to teach preschool kids. That is critical, and that's the skills agenda of this government.

In 2023 more than 80,000 fee-free TAFE students enrolled in care sector courses, more than 30,000 in technology and digital, and almost 20,000 in early childhood education and care.

The combination of the fee-free TAFE policy and Labor's tax plan have relieved cost-of-living pressures for people across this country. Just take two examples: a Victorian training to be a nurse will not need to find a $15,000 fee to enrol—indeed, on becoming a nurse on $75,000 they will actually save up to $1,554 as of 1 July. A civil construction trainee in Darwin need not find almost $3,000 in course fees, and the tax cuts mean a plant operator earning $90,000 will keep almost $2,000 more of what they earn. Indeed, also taxpayers on 1 July will be getting a tax cut. An enormous 84 per cent of those taxpayers will be better off under Labor's plan compared to the plan of those opposite. We want people to access education and training, but we also want to make sure that they earn more and keep more of what they earn. By way of contrast, the opposition have no plans and no policies—not even a thought bubble—when it comes to responding the skill shortage in this country. They do not support our skills initiatives, they do not support real wages going up and they do not support Labor's tax plan.

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