Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business. Will the minister please update the House on how the Morrison government's measures to support small businesses and apprentices are ensuring Australia has the skilled workforce it needs to drive our economy's comeback from the COVID-19 recession?

Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question. Like me, she is very proud to be part of this government, because we have put vocational, educational and training front and centre of our economic agenda.

Ms Plibersek interjecting—

Mr Speaker, I would just like to say that I only concluded two sentences before the member for Sydney started interjecting. I've always found it fascinating every time she pops her head up on vocational educational and training because the member for Sydney was part of the cabinet that actually delivered nine successive cuts to vocational education and training. Nine successive cuts, $1.2 billion—the member for Sydney was part of the cabinet that actually delivered that. But let me tell you, Mr Speaker, this government is going to remedy all of the damage that the Labor government did to vocational education and training in this country. We are delivering because we understand how important vocational education and training and the skills that that is able to deliver to this country is.

Mr Hill interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Bruce.

Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We have demonstrated our support for apprentices and trainees, particularly during the COVID pandemic. We've done this through our supporting apprentices and trainees' wage subsidy that began in April of this year and will continue through to March of next year. I'm really pleased to report to the House that, as of last week, this measure alone has assisted more than 56,000 businesses, and 98 per cent of those are small businesses, and we've helped them retain 103,000 apprentices and trainees. This includes 20,000 brickies, 15,000 electricians, 10,000 plumbers, 5,000 hairdressers, and 8,000 automotive mechanics and automotive electricians. That is the result that we are looking for out of the money that we have spent on vocational education and training. We have supported, and we will continue to support, the vocational education and training sector because we know how important it is to deliver the skills that we need as a nation as we come through this COVID pandemic.