Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I became a politician and a lawyer, I was a schoolteacher for 11 years. In that time, I became very passionate about giving people the right opportunity in life. That is why I am particularly passionate about TAFE. Yesterday, we celebrated National TAFE Day. Politicians from across the divide came together with TAFE teachers to acknowledge the great work that they do. There was even a member from the Liberal and National Party there. Senator Birmingham, the Assistant Minister for Education and Training, came along to acknowledge the great contribution that TAFE makes to our nation. It is a real national asset.

Labor understands the importance of education and understands that education must be for everyone. TAFE is about building skills for the future. Apart from skilling up youth, TAFE fulfils an important role for mature age people who find themselves in a situation where they have to change careers. TAFE provides them with the opportunity to undertake an apprenticeship and to re-enter the workforce so they can provide for themselves and their families. The importance of TAFE cannot be overstated. It provides school leavers with more than just basic workplace skills. It gives them the confidence to learn independently and then to move into the workforce. TAFE helps mature age workers not only to re-skill but also to transfer their skills to other employment opportunities. TAFE also provides employees with the chance to train up in their profession so they can be more effective in their employment.

It is a travesty that this Abbott government has cut $2 billion from TAFE and vocational education, including $1 billion from apprenticeships. Not satisfied with its attempts so far to wreck the sector, Tony Abbott's green paper proposes that the federal government completely abandon its role in funding vocational education and training. This government has no plan for our youth and no plan to ensure that Australia has a skilled workforce for the future.

Labor believes in the necessity of skilling the workforce for tomorrow. We have a plan to make skills and training a national priority. A Shorten Labor government will guarantee a portion of federal funding for vocational education dedicated to public TAFE. I am proud to say that under the previous Labor government, the number of people participating in government funded training grew from 1.2 million in 2007 to 1.5 million in 2013.

In my electorate of Moreton, we have a small scale TAFE at Yeerongpilly which holds Adult Migrant English Program classes, which is appropriate for a diverse and multicultural electorate like Moreton. We also have TAFE training provided at Salisbury, which I have inspected. At the suburb of Acacia Ridge, we have the world-class facility of SkillsTech, which operates under the TAFE umbrella and focuses on a range of trades including welding, engineering and the like. Labor will ensure that those wanting to pursue a career path that is trade based, which is crucial for our future, will always have the opportunity to do so under a Labor government.