Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I love vocational education. I can say that because I was a carpenter and joiner and always will be. I was a builder—always will be—before I retrained as a barrister. I remember with some fondness my apprenticeship. For those who have done an apprenticeship, that would probably bring a smile to your face. It is an education, and Peter Mahoney, if you're ever watching this or listening to this, thank you for your guidance for nearly four years and your—shall we say—instructions. I'm a big fan of vocational education and training, I wouldn't be the person I am today but for Holmesglen College of TAFE, and I am a big fan of TAFE. I'm not afraid to say that, and I'll talk a little bit about that in a moment.

I'm really pleased to be able to celebrate the Australian Skillaroos, who've returned from the 47th WorldSkills competition. In September, Australia's best young skilled apprentices and trainees took on 86 other countries, competing for the title of the world's most skilled country. We saw trainees and apprentices in carpentry, plumbing, cybersecurity, fashion design, baking and so many other fields, showcasing their expertise and the strength of Australia's vocational training sector. Congratulations to all competitors, coaches and supporters; you did Australia proud.

It's that sector which myself and members of this side of the house have fought for. The coalition handed the Albanese government a skills and training system not just trending up but powering ahead, thanks to years of strong economic leadership and future-focused investment. We invested over $13 billion in skills over the final two years of government alone, representing the most significant reforms to vocational training in over a decade. Trade apprentices in training hit record highs in the final months of the coalition government, reaching 429,000 apprentices and trainees in training and 277,900 commencements as at June 2022.

We were upskilling Australians to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future, but let's take a look at the government's record in comparison. On current measures, we still need 130,000 skilled trade workers to get the construction workforce to where it needs to be. This gap is worsening, with a collapse in construction apprenticeship completions of 8.6 per cent and a collapse in commencements of nearly 12 per cent. Since Labor took office, Australia has had 85,000 fewer apprentices and trainees. That's a loss of one in five. Almost all the gains the coalition made in building up Australia's skills pipeline have been squandered in just two and a half years.

Now, through the fee-free TAFE policy, Labor are trying to put all their eggs in one basket, directing funds to just one section of the training sector—at the expense of the private sector—and rejecting the industry-based private training industry, just like they did last time. And for what? Labor's own data shows that just 13 per cent of fee-free TAFE students have completed their programs to date. That means there are just as many people dropping out as there are graduating. Also, questioning of departmental officials at Senate estimates uncovered that there has been no performance review of fee-free TAFE and that a performance review will not be completed until June 2025. This means that Labor are committing to permanently funding a $1.5 billion program without knowing if it's even working effectively. This is just another example of Labor blowing taxpayers' money on policy thought bubbles and avoiding transparency for their failures.

In the final few seconds that I've got to speak, I want to send a big shout-out to anybody who is thinking, as they're finishing school, 'Do I do a trade, or do I go to uni?' These are really important decisions that you're making right now, but I want you to know that if you do an Australian trade—I don't want to give an ironclad guarantee—

you will virtually always have work. Australian trades are highly respected around the world. You can work in London. You can work in just about every other country. Our skills and our trades are highly respected, and they are well paid—even better than many people who are coming out of university. You don't have to go to university; you can get a trade. (Time expired)

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