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

Firstly, I would like to thank all the honourable members who have contributed to this debate about making free TAFE a permanent feature of our national VET system. Free TAFE is changing lives and delivering cost-of-living relief to hundreds of thousands of Australians, and that's why we're locking it into law, not cutting it.

Since free TAFE started in 2023, there have been close to 600,000 enrolments. Over 191,000 young Australians, 140,000 jobseekers and 34,000 First Nations Australians have enrolled in free TAFE. More than six in 10 places have been taken up by women, one in three in regional and remote Australia. We've had 39,000 enrol in construction courses, 40,000 in early education, 54,000 in digital technology and 150,000 in aged care and disability care. Tens of thousands of jobseekers are getting a fresh start. Hundreds of thousands of young people are training for a new career, and older workers are training for a new opportunity.

But these are not just numbers. Each one is a story of individuals and of families, a story about the joy of achievement and the satisfaction and reward of meaningful work. And it's a story about stronger, happier communities and a healthier, more diverse economy. Our investment sends a clear message to each and every person enrolled and anyone thinking about enrolling: 'We back you. We support your education. We support your aspiration. We won't cut it. We want you to get that qualification to help build the life you want.' Investment in free TAFE is not wasteful spending which needs to be cut, as we've heard members of the coalition say in this place. I can tell you that every free TAFE student I've met certainly values their education and the doors that it is opening—students like Caitlin, a Navy veteran and single mum here in Canberra. She told me she wanted to become a nurse but couldn't afford to study until the Albanese government made it free.

Free TAFE offers an ongoing, coordinated approach with states and territories to addressing the nation's skills shortages, which we inherited after a decade of inaction from the previous government. The Free TAFE Bill 2024 commits the Commonwealth to continuing support for at least 100,000 free TAFE places a year from 2027, bringing costs down so that more Australians can access high-quality, affordable training. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank states and territories for their critical role in ensuring the success of the current free TAFE program. This is a true partnership.

I welcome the discussion and debate that's occurred in the House and the broader community since my second reading speech. Many members have highlighted how free TAFE will build Australia's future and deliver ongoing benefits to their communities, to industry and to the economy. Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, there have also been some disappointing contributions offered up by Liberal Party and National Party members, signalling that free TAFE is on their cuts agenda. The Liberals have made it clear they don't believe TAFE students are worth the investment. In fact, it appears to be Liberal policy that TAFE students don't deserve cost-of-living relief, but bosses going out for long lunch and karaoke need 20 grand a year.

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition said the quiet part out loud when she declared:

… it's a key principle and tenet of the Liberal Party: if you don't pay for something, you don't value it. So, if you're told that your TAFE is free and all you have to do is turn up … but you haven't paid for it, you don't see it as something that makes a difference to you in your life; you don't see it as something valuable.

Well, that is not true for Shereen, who told us that free TAFE had been life changing. It's not true for Kirsty and Cristy, who are doing their Diploma of Nursing qualification through free TAFE in Queensland. It's not true for Lachlan, who did his cert IV through free TAFE and represented Australia at the WorldSkills championships in France alongside 1,400 competitors from 70 other nations. It's not true for Caitlin and Giselle, who are doing their health qualifications through Canberra Institute of TAFE, and Kayla in WA, who is set up for a career for the next 20 to 30 years. All the students I have met and all the students that my Labor colleagues have spoken to across Australia, from Cairns to Cottesloe, Devonport to Darwin and everywhere in between, all value their studies and value the career opportunities that have opened up for them as a result. They value the TAFE teachers who have supported them and the fellow students that they've been learning with. So does Labor.

A central tenet of the Labor Party is no-one held back and no-one left behind. There's a stark difference between Labor and the Liberals on TAFE and public education. For Australians, there's a choice. The Liberals have made it clear that under them there will be no free TAFE. They will cut funding to free TAFE. Despite the claims of the member for Farrer and those opposite, free TAFE is funded. It's funded through the 2024-25 MYEFO with a commitment of $253.7 million for 1½ years from 2027 and $177 million each year after that. Labor is making free TAFE permanent. It provides cost-of-living relief. It removes the debt burden that students can carry over their course of their lifetimes. It gives Australians the opportunity to obtain meaningful, secure and well-paid jobs. It delivers on our commitment that no-one is held back and no-one is left behind. It is building Australia's future and creating a better life for Australians. That's what the Free TAFE Bill is all about, and that's why I commend the bill to the House.

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