Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Skills and Training. Today the parliament passed the Jobs and Skills Australia legislation. How will Jobs and Skills Australia help tackle the skills shortage crisis the government inherited?

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Skills and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank the member for Adelaide for his question. Yes, he's absolutely right: today the parliament passed the Jobs and Skills Australia legislation. That is, of course, a commitment, an election promise, by this Prime Minister and by this government, to deliver a body that can provide the right sort of advice to ensure that we have the skills that we need in this country. What we do know is we have just inherited not only $1 trillion of debt but a massive skills deficit. It doesn't matter where you look across the economy and labour market, whatever sector of the economy it is, we have problems in terms of supply of skills. The National Skills Commission's last report said that we have almost doubled the occupations on the shortage list from 153 to 286 in 12 months, and that's why it's absolutely critical that we move very fast on this matter.

I'd like to thank the members and senators who worked with me on this legislation across the parliament. We really need to move quickly, as I say. We need to deploy every avenue we have to find the skills that our economy needs. I need to acknowledge the ministers for home affairs and immigration, who are seeking to restore skilled migration pathways that have been absolutely ruined as a result of the efforts of those opposite. I mean, they left an entire mess. Quite understandably they closed the borders, but why would they ever not support visa holders in this country so that they would leave in droves and leave a skills deficit in our economy? That's exactly what happened.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Mitchell will cease interjecting.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Skills and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The other thing we need to make sure we do is invest in skills in this country by providing the skills in areas of shortage. That's why we've announced 180,000 TAFE and VET fee-free places—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Mitchell is on a warning.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Skills and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

for next year, provided in areas of acute shortage.

But there's another area that we need to consider. When you have a tight labour market, that is a very significant challenge, but it is an opportunity for us to do something that's really critical for those people that have been locked out of the labour market for too long. We have many, many Australians—people with disability, First Nations people, women enduring economic insecurity, older Australians—who suffer discrimination in trying to get a job. They probably have an opportunity, probably an opportunity of a lifetime, because of the tight labour market. And this government is going to provide the support, working with business, to make sure they get chances in this labour market. That will be our pledge. We will provide the sort of support that's needed to provide people with disabilities and First Nations people an opportunity. I'm actually visiting Tennant Creek tomorrow and I'll be in Darwin with the Chief Minister not long after that to work on these issues in the Territory. I'll be doing the same in every state and territory so that we get this right.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.