Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor is the party for education both in TAFE and university. That's why we're unlocking 100,000 fee-free TAFE places per year. Under Labor, fee-free TAFE is here to stay. We'll also be cutting 20 per cent off all student debts and raising minimum repayment thresholds so that repayments are lower and kick in when you earn more.

While the Liberals are focused on blocking, we're focused on building Australia's future. As a proud TAFE graduate, I know TAFE can open the door for many Australians. In making this commitment, we are upskilling Australians in essential industries, building the economy and filling the workforce gaps in critical industries. We are giving people the skills that they need for the jobs they want. We are training more tradies and construction workers to build more homes and training more nurses and healthcare workers to look after our loved ones. It will open the door for aspirational Australians, giving people in our communities in McEwen the opportunity to gain skills and get ahead.

This is the start of our positive plan for a second term: helping Australia with the cost of living and building Australia's future. This is something those opposite clearly have no idea about. Yesterday's question time was a ripsnorter of an embarrassment for the deputy opposition leader, showing their absolute ignorance of, and prejudice against, public education. Yesterday the question was asked: 'Why have only 13 per cent of the TAFE courses that we've started two years ago been completed?' The fact is that 89 per cent of those courses go for three years, so they're not completed within a two-year timeframe, and this lot over there are complaining— (Time expired)