Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Skills and Training) Share this | Hansard source

Let's think a bit more about Estelle and Cristy and all of the people like them—600,000 people who could be saving more than $17,700 doing a Diploma of Nursing in Victoria or $5,200 doing a Certificate III in Agriculture in Queensland. These are real savings for people getting skills we need. Free TAFE is making a difference, and that is why we are going to make it permanent.

The Liberals call it 'wasteful spending'. The Leader of the Opposition says he's going to cut wasteful spending. We know that he will cut free TAFE and make you worse off. The shadow assistant minister for education let the cat out of the bag at the Senate inquiry when he asked:

Would the South Australian government continue to fund fee-free TAFE if the Commonwealth was to reduce its funding?

Of course, this is no wonder, because the Deputy Leader of the Opposition has said:

… it's a key principle and tenet of the Liberal Party: if you don't pay for something, you don't value it.

It's not just free TAFE that the Liberal Party don't value; it's public education writ large. It's Medicare. It's the NDIS. It's public hospitals. Australians will be worse off under the Liberal Party and the Leader of the Opposition, who will cut free TAFE but spend billions of dollars on long lunches for bosses. That means there is a very clear choice at this election. The Liberals will cut free TAFE and make Australians worse off, whereas, under the Albanese government, free TAFE is here to stay.

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