Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

BURNELL () (): I'll start by saying this motion does get one thing right: there is currently a workforce shortage in Australia. And not just in the building and construction industry, but across a multitude of sectors in this country. It needs to be addressed. But where the words in front of us this morning fall short is on how we should act to fix the issue. The coalition's ideas that they put forward in this motion alongside their actions in this place to actually address the workforce shortage range from non-existent to nonsensical. I'm happy to explain why.

This motion connects the workforce shortage Australia currently faces with cost-of-living pressures that are especially hurting people in my community. It connects the skills gap, another urgent issue in Spence, with the housing crisis playing out each and every day in our communities. It does those things and then passes the buck over to our side of the chamber so that those opposite can safely escape responsibility, as if nine long years of sheer sitting-on-hands neglect, which we have been cleaning up, never occurred under the watch of a Liberal government. It's as if those opposite weren't completely ignoring housing affordability in this country, not even having a housing minister for most of that time while Aussies gradually began to struggle more and more. It's as if the coalition didn't rip $3 billion out of TAFE over the course of their reign to help create this shortage we're seeing today. I'm at least used to that by now. It wouldn't be a day in this place without this opposition creating an issue and then using it to profit off the people losing out as a result.

But let's, for a moment, let all that slide. Let's give the opposition the fresh start that they so desperately crave. Let's say we've given them that, a blank canvas to escape their actions. What do we get in return? We get a motion like this, not even a week after the Liberals decided to attack fee-free TAFE and those opposite let slip that their key principles include holding people back from accessing tertiary education to learn skills to enter the workforce. I honestly couldn't make it up. The opposition have taken the time this morning to call attention to workforce shortages, to pass the buck on their own failures, to escape their role in helping Aussies fight the cost of living while at the same time they actively work against getting people into the workforce, they try to stop Aussies from earning a living, and they try to make it harder for Aussies to access TAFE to learn the skills they need to work and build homes to solve the issues they're raising. Make it make sense! The Labor government has introduced a free program that has seen half a million enrolments into TAFE, to do what's needed to solve the issues in this motion. The Liberals are against it because it's free and because it addresses workforce shortages in a way that's affordable for people. What a joke!

It's such a shame, especially for communities across the northern suburbs of Adelaide. The north has been built on the success of a healthy intergenerational workforce, built on the people with blue denim in their veins, as our community's very own Jimmy Barnes would point out. This journey goes all the way back to Holdens and their transformative presence in Elizabeth through the decades, all the way through to the thriving business park of Lionsgate, which we see on the same site today, and everywhere in between. Large companies, like BAE Systems, are achieving incredible things with some fantastic local apprentices. More modest businesses, such as Mr Dapy's Demolition in Smithfield, continue to innovate alongside the services they provide. These examples alongside countless others, throughout the history of our community, make up the unique story of the north and that's a story that continues today, as livelihoods are made and communities are built off the back of a thriving workforce. This is why it's imperative this shortage is addressed.

Our workforce is the lifeblood of our community—both then and now. It's through their wellbeing that we fight hardest against the cost of living. It's through their training and skills that Australia will meet the challenge of the housing crisis. It's through motions like this one, that squeezes pure snake oil out of people already doing it tough, that this workforce, their communities and their nation will continue to be held back.

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