Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health) Share this | Hansard source

It won't surprise you to hear that we on this side of the House care greatly about whether taxpayer money is being spent effectively. And we are vigilant when it comes to those opposite, given their predilection to pick a winner, particularly when that winner is the public sector over the private sector, and vigilant as to the consequences of Labor's choices on the training choices of everyday Australians—and I hasten to add, as a member of the Nationals, the impact on training choices in regional Australia.

Before I get too far into the facts and figures, as the member for Mallee I reflect on the increasingly frequent conversations I have with small businesses, particularly those who use trades and who cannot source young apprentices and workers. If fee-free TAFE isn't delivering workers into regional manufacturing and industry, that ought to be reviewed.

In my electorate I have SuniTAFE—that is, the Sunraysia Institute of TAFE—operating in both Mildura and Swan Hill, as well as Federation TAFE in Horsham. There are also various other providers, including: the Civil Contractors Federation; Skillinvest, who, in addition to running other courses in the electorate, run agricultural and vehicle training at Longerenong near Horsham and more courses in Horsham itself; the Australian Institute of Vocational Development; Oz Skills Careers College; Murray Adult Community Education; and the Warner Institute, just to name some. Choice matters.

I must add that just yesterday a new engineering centre opened at Federation TAFE's Wimmera campus in Horsham, offering certificate III in engineering—fabrication trade. I think that is a wonderful development in Horsham, and I hope to hear of many students who take that up. I also must add, as shadow assistant minister for regional health, that we have a dire health workforce shortage in regional Australia. We need to ensure that we are adding to the supply of workers across hospitals, health care and aged care through TAFE courses.

In short, skills training is critically important in regional Australia because of the difficulty we have in attracting workers. We need to grow our own. That is another reason why we need to ensure we have the maximum number of training options in regional Australia. Undermining the private-provider space threatens that choice.

The coalition and the peak body for independent registered training organisations have been critical of the fee-free TAFE policy prioritising government-run TAFE over VET providers. When it comes to the free TAFE policy, as the opposition we have a responsibility to hold the government accountable on whether this policy is a success or not. That is our job. All too often, those opposite preach virtue while reaching into the pockets of present and future taxpayers to throw money at something, hoping it will work, as the costs mount up and the results dwindle to nothing.

The coalition's concerns about the unquantified cost but locked in obligation under this bill are a major reason why, at this time, we cannot support the bill. As the shadow minister was at pains to emphasise, and I highlight today, we are not opposed to students in vocational training or TAFE. I speak with young constituents who want VET and TAFE options and who want to gain the skills for their chosen career. It is the best fit for many young people and, indeed, for older people looking to reskill to follow their dreams.

Financial mismanagement by those opposite is the reason we oppose this bill. We are, if you like, twice bitten thrice shy. Here are two glaring examples from the Labor Party on financial mismanagement—and there are plenty of others. First, is Labor's globally unprecedented attempt to make our energy grid, one of the most vast electricity grids in the world, entirely reliable on intermittent renewable energy. Chris Uhlmann on Sky News last night dropped truth bomb after truth bomb about the energy crisis Labor has dragged us into. They are the same truths that we, on this side, have been saying for years which Labor and, I have to say, much of the media have simply not wanted to listen to. But the Australian public are listening. Mark my words. I hasten to add that on Friday, Frontier Economics belled the cat—and what a large cat it was—of a $500 billion blowout on Labor's cost estimates on their renewables-only approach to the vast energy grid of Australia.

The second example of Labor's inability to manage taxpayer money is Victorian Labor's Suburban Rail Loop, underpinned by an as yet unspent $2.2 billion of the Albanese Labor government. The SRL has blown out from an initial cost of $50 billion to upward of $216 billion. Australians just can't trust Labor with their money.

Under Labor's free TAFE policy, approximately 350,000 students are enrolled overall in national areas of priority, and I'll now give details of those enrolments from January 2023 to 30 June 2024. In the care sector—aged care, child care, health care and disability care—there were 131,352 students, including 35,585 enrolled in early childhood and care for children. In the technology and digital space there were 48,907 students. In hospitality and tourism, though I could not source a figure, perhaps the minister could fill that gap. Enrolled in construction were 34,996 students. In agriculture there were 20,322 students. Sovereign capability enrolments—for example, manufacturing and defence—appear to have been minimal, and, since 1 January 2024, we just don't know the VET workforce number.

A question time briefing pack for August 2024 for the new minister, Minister Giles, released by the department under freedom of information, indicated that from the start of fee-free TAFE in 2023 to 31 March 2024 there had been 61,072 completions, representing around 13 per cent of enrolments for that period. The excuse given is that courses can take up to three full-time study years to complete.

I stand to be corrected, but I don't believe Labor has provided data on the dropout rate from their fee-free TAFE courses. We know from evidence that the South Australian minister gave to his parliament on 30 October, the dropout rate there is 12.5 per cent. If that rate is replicated nationwide, that's a frighteningly close equivalent percentage of dropouts to completions—as many dropping out as finishing the courses. We still don't know how much of the $1.5 billion spent on this program so far has gone to courses that will never be completed.

Victorian data shows the Diploma of Nursing has the most enrolments, with 9,600 enrolments, while the high-skills need and demand areas that fee-free TAFE has most supported in Victoria are the care sector at 29,000 enrolments, ahead of construction with 10,000. The full Victorian cohort in fee-free TAFE is predominantly female—50,000 females and 32,000 males.

The first tranche of the fee-free TAFE program was due for a mid-fund report by 15 July 2023 and an end-of-fund report by 31 July 2024. I ask the minister to table these reports.

Tom Karmel from the Mackenzie Research Institute looked at the preliminary data from fee-free TAFE in August this year and said:

The results are fairly clear cut.

First, Government funded training, as measured by program commencements, increased from 2022 to 2023. That said, commencements have been fairly static since 2015, and are well down on the number of commencements over the period 2010-2014. Thus it is difficult to sell the program as a significant increase in investment in training delivery by governments.

Second, there is no evidence that the Australian government priorities have had a material effect on shifting training toward its priority areas. Overall, the proportion of commencements in priority areas has not shifted from 2022 to 2023. We see that commencements in the Construction field declined from 2022 to 2023, despite construction being a clear priority. Similarly commencements increased in the training package areas of Creative Arts and Culture (up 17%), Financial Services (up 103%), and the Public Sector (up 17%), despite these areas not being designated as priority areas.

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Third, there is little evidence that Fee-Free TAFE has had much impact from an equity perspective. The percentage of government funded commencements that is Indigenous did not increase from 2022 to 2023 and is lower than what was observed in 2019. Commencements aged 17-24 years declined, while those out of work changed little. Little has changed in terms of women in non traditional fields or those with a disability. While the fee-free nature of the program should make it more attractive for individuals, tuition fees in VET government funded places have always been heavily subsidised and the States have always offered concessions for target groups, so perhaps the tuition free aspect has not made that much difference. It should also be noted that tuition is not the only cost associated with VET training—individuals need to invest considerable effort.

Fourth, the Fee-Free TAFE program has definitely improved the position of TAFE in the VET market. This has occurred at the expense of private providers.

I have to pause there to focus on that word 'expense'. That's the truth. Two words Labor and the political left use to manipulate the masses are the words 'safe' and 'free'. Nothing in politics is free. Someone pays for it. In this 'free' TAFE instance, it will be the taxpayer facing an unquantified cost, and, as Tom Karmel points out, private providers who will pay.

Back to Tom Karmel—and again I quote him on the use of this term 'free':

My final comment relates to the fee-free aspect of the program. This is not costless with tuition fees previously contributing amounts representing around 13% of funding for training. The absence of this source of funding limits the number of places offered. The policy judgment then is whether the benefits to individuals not having to pay tuition fees outweighs the negative impact on the finances of VET. If the lack of tuition fees limits the offerings then it is possible that the impact on equity groups will be perverse, with fewer individuals able to take up a training place.

Who would have thought: picking winners ends up limiting choices, meaning some disadvantaged people such as rural and remote Australians will gain nothing from so-called free TAFE.

We've seen this movie before—for instance, with childcare places. Recently I had the shadow minister for early years, Angie Bell, visit Mallee and talk to local constituents. We know that the Labor government increased subsidies for those parents, even right up into the $500,000 pay grade, to access child care at a subsidised rate. The problem is it didn't deliver one more place in the regions. There is no equity when you live out in the regions and you don't have a childcare centre; that is not bringing about equity for families who live there.

I am told that in my home state of Victoria just one per cent of those registered for a fee-free certificate IV in plumbing completed their training. My constituents raised with me whether this government's current skills policy is working effectively to provide the apprentices, care workers and tradies of the future.

We are losing apprentices and trainees nationwide under Labor; there are an estimated 39 per cent fewer apprentices or trainees starting a trade or skill since the Prime Minister took office. Master Builders Australia seized on National Centre for Vocational Education Research research earlier this year which showed that building and construction apprenticeship commencements had fallen 22 per cent in the year to December 2023. Master Builders say they're only replacing half of their annual exit rate of eight per cent, projecting that construction labour shortages will lead to a $57 billion reduction in GDP over the next five years. It is a parallel to health and where we sit currently with the exit rate of GPs and the oncoming rate of new GPs. This is a huge problem that this government needs to address.

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