Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) reform is required to retain workers in the building and construction industry; and

(b) Master Builders Australia has reported that there is a critical workforce shortage, with a 14.7 per cent decrease in the number of construction industry apprentices completing their studies since 2022, and the total number of construction apprentices also decreasing by 22.4 per cent for the same period; and

(2) acknowledges that the:

(a) Government has delivered a business insolvency crisis, with over 23,938 business insolvencies since taking office, including over 6,399 construction business insolvencies;

(b) Government's Fee Free TAFE program has delivered a 13 per cent completion rate to date and the Government has refused to reveal the dropout rate;

(c) Government is failing Australian businesses and the construction sector; and

(d) Opposition's Housing Infrastructure Program aims to deliver up to 500,000 additional homes and contribute to the growth in employment in the building and construction industry by direct employment to residential development infrastructure.

As we stand here in this chamber today, once again we're debating an issue that the government has failed to address. We see, each and every day, Australia's need for more building and construction workers. We know that there are not enough workers joining the industry each year to keep up with demand, and this is putting significant pressure on the workforce at a time when Australia is experiencing a housing and construction crisis. In its September 2024 report The future of the workforce: the building and construction industry, Master Builders Australia reported that since 2022 there has been a 14.7 per cent decrease in the number of construction industry apprentices completing their studies, and the total number of construction apprentices has decreased by some 22½ per cent for the same period. We all know that, to be able to keep up with current and future demand, the industry needs net growth of around 10 per cent per annum over the next five years. That's about 130,000 people who need to join the building and construction workforce. The Master Builders Australia report goes on to say that two of the key things they see that could happen to facilitate this would be simplifying the process by which skilled migrants can apply for a visa and including migrants skilled in the building and construction industry on the Core Skills Occupation List. Jobs and Schools Australia also noted that the replacement rate for construction related occupations is amongst the lowest in the labour market and has declined significantly, to 54 per cent in the 2020-21 financial year.

We hear the government talk a good game, but once again this Labor government is failing Australian businesses and the construction sector. When the National Housing Accord goal was announced, the Labor government pledged an additional contribution of $15,000 for each home built beyond one million homes, but Australia has never delivered 1.2 million homes in any five-year period. The closest was in 2014 under the then Abbott government, when a total of 1.1 million new dwellings were commenced. We have seen this government also preside over a business insolvency crisis across the construction industry, with nearly 6,400 construction business insolvencies in its term of government.

These insolvencies and the continued workforce shortages in the building and construction workforce result in nearly 73,000 fewer workers and the loss of some 13,000 new home buildings, a decrease in building construction output totalling some $7.7 billion and a $57 billion reduction in GDP. Masters Builders Australia recently released an analysis showing the latest build times. It found that 15 years ago it took an average of nine months to build a standalone home. This has blown out to 12 months, an increase of over 40 per cent, making it even more difficult to meet the government's ambitious housing targets.

In comparison, a coalition government would strongly focus on skills funding would but also ensure that students have a choice because we have seen with the government's free TAFE bill that students don't have a choice because they support only one section of the skills and training industry. We know, from the statistics, that students in the private sector have a better outcome in terms of jobs and skills and training, so why is the government only picking one sector of the training industry to support, not the whole industry? In addition, our housing infrastructure program seeks to support workers on the ground by assisting in the infrastructure that housing needs—water, power, sewerage and access roads. We're not limiting the policy just to housing. It's much broader than that.

Finally, Australians deserve the sound economic management that a coalition government would deliver, not the economic mismanagement that this Labor government is inflicting on Australians each and every day.

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

BURNELL () (): I'll start by saying this motion does get one thing right: there is currently a workforce shortage in Australia. And not just in the building and construction industry, but across a multitude of sectors in this country. It needs to be addressed. But where the words in front of us this morning fall short is on how we should act to fix the issue. The coalition's ideas that they put forward in this motion alongside their actions in this place to actually address the workforce shortage range from non-existent to nonsensical. I'm happy to explain why.

This motion connects the workforce shortage Australia currently faces with cost-of-living pressures that are especially hurting people in my community. It connects the skills gap, another urgent issue in Spence, with the housing crisis playing out each and every day in our communities. It does those things and then passes the buck over to our side of the chamber so that those opposite can safely escape responsibility, as if nine long years of sheer sitting-on-hands neglect, which we have been cleaning up, never occurred under the watch of a Liberal government. It's as if those opposite weren't completely ignoring housing affordability in this country, not even having a housing minister for most of that time while Aussies gradually began to struggle more and more. It's as if the coalition didn't rip $3 billion out of TAFE over the course of their reign to help create this shortage we're seeing today. I'm at least used to that by now. It wouldn't be a day in this place without this opposition creating an issue and then using it to profit off the people losing out as a result.

But let's, for a moment, let all that slide. Let's give the opposition the fresh start that they so desperately crave. Let's say we've given them that, a blank canvas to escape their actions. What do we get in return? We get a motion like this, not even a week after the Liberals decided to attack fee-free TAFE and those opposite let slip that their key principles include holding people back from accessing tertiary education to learn skills to enter the workforce. I honestly couldn't make it up. The opposition have taken the time this morning to call attention to workforce shortages, to pass the buck on their own failures, to escape their role in helping Aussies fight the cost of living while at the same time they actively work against getting people into the workforce, they try to stop Aussies from earning a living, and they try to make it harder for Aussies to access TAFE to learn the skills they need to work and build homes to solve the issues they're raising. Make it make sense! The Labor government has introduced a free program that has seen half a million enrolments into TAFE, to do what's needed to solve the issues in this motion. The Liberals are against it because it's free and because it addresses workforce shortages in a way that's affordable for people. What a joke!

It's such a shame, especially for communities across the northern suburbs of Adelaide. The north has been built on the success of a healthy intergenerational workforce, built on the people with blue denim in their veins, as our community's very own Jimmy Barnes would point out. This journey goes all the way back to Holdens and their transformative presence in Elizabeth through the decades, all the way through to the thriving business park of Lionsgate, which we see on the same site today, and everywhere in between. Large companies, like BAE Systems, are achieving incredible things with some fantastic local apprentices. More modest businesses, such as Mr Dapy's Demolition in Smithfield, continue to innovate alongside the services they provide. These examples alongside countless others, throughout the history of our community, make up the unique story of the north and that's a story that continues today, as livelihoods are made and communities are built off the back of a thriving workforce. This is why it's imperative this shortage is addressed.

Our workforce is the lifeblood of our community—both then and now. It's through their wellbeing that we fight hardest against the cost of living. It's through their training and skills that Australia will meet the challenge of the housing crisis. It's through motions like this one, that squeezes pure snake oil out of people already doing it tough, that this workforce, their communities and their nation will continue to be held back.

Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the motion moved by the member for Forde. In this country, we have a housing shortage. There are many factors we need to fix to alleviate this problem and to get Australians into their own homes, to rekindle that great Australian dream of homeownership that, for many, has become the great Australian nightmare under this Labor government.

One issue that must be addressed is the tradie shortage, not only in the building and construction industry but across many sectors. When I speak to owners of small and medium-sized businesses, one of the major issues they cite is a lack of skilled workers that are suitable for the job vacancies they have. Much of this issue has been created over decades, with pressure from governments, society and parents encouraging university education. I've got no problem with university education; we need it. We need doctors, physiotherapists, teachers, nurses and the like but not at the expense of plumbers, hairdressers, chippies, and retail and hospitality workers.

I cannot count the number of parents and young people who have felt pressured or guilted into taking on a university degree, even though university wasn't something they had a great interest in. I spoke to a young man recently who had done two years, reluctantly, at university after feeling pressured by well-meaning staff at school and his parents to enter university. He spoke to me of his depression and feelings of failure as he simply could not cope with the academic demands of higher education. Frustrated, he finally left and for the past 12 months he's started a small business doing bond cleaning for real estate. He is now earning a good income, and, more importantly, he is as happy as a pig in mud.

BuildSkills Australia, the national Jobs and Skills Council for the construction sector, informs us that Australia needs to urgently find an extra 90,000 skilled tradespeople to meet Labor's housing targets and that our construction industry faces a workforce shortfall of 40 per cent by 2040. This point was conceded by the housing minister, Clare O'Neil, at the recent Australian Financial Review Property Summit in September. Ironically, as home affairs minister previous to her current portfolio, she had the authority to make evidence based policy decisions. Instead, the exact opposite decision was made, excluding tradies from the specialist skills pathway, which is the highest priority visa. Simply put, she put tradies at the bottom of the pile.

The normal practice of the headline announcement with no substance has been part of this issue. The fee-free TAFE initiative sounds good in theory, but the data reveals a different story. First of all, nothing is free. Someone always pays. In this case, that is the taxpayer. The Australian government is simply a steward of the taxpayers' money. It is incumbent on us to ensure they are getting the best bang for their buck. Only 13 per cent of students who enrol in fee-free TAFE actually graduate, and I note here that, in contrast, the completion rate in private RTOs is over 80 per cent. So I ask the question: where should the government be directing funds—to an organisation that turns a 13 per cent completion rate or one that returns an 80 per cent completion rate? In one of the most damning statistics in Victoria, just one per cent of those who registered for a fee-free TAFE certificate IV in plumbing successfully completed their training. The facts are 80 per cent of Australians who get a skill each year obtain that skill from a RTO other than TAFE, so why no investment when these organisations are producing better outcomes?

Labor have attacked the coalition, criticising our position—that is, if you don't pay for something you don't value it. For those who have the view that there is little difference between the two major parties, this statement pretty well sums up the difference between the two parties: how dare the Australian people expect a return on their hard-earned tax dollars—sarcastic tone intended? The best measure is how many students who enrol actually get a job in the profession that the taxpayers paid for in their training. You can't even get data on this. I suspect this is to hide the numbers that would leave people aghast.

Of course TAFE needs to be part of the training sector but, just as public schools are one part of the education mix with independent, Catholic and home-schooling also contributing a vital part of the school education system, private RTOs and employers need to be part of the VET sector and, under this government, they are being neglected. Surely COVID taught us that the 'all eggs in one basket' approach leads to disaster.

At the end of the previous coalition government there were 429,000 apprentices and trainees in training. Since this Labor government took office that has dropped by 85,000, and commencements have dropped to 166,200. It is time to vote the coalition in at the next election and get Australia back on track.

Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australia's construction industry is the lifeblood of our nation. Construction workers provide the homes that families grow in, the infrastructure that connects our communities and the jobs that underpin livelihoods across the country. The strength and resilience of this industry are critical to our economic prosperity and to ensure all Australians have access to safe and affordable housing. This is why our government has made supporting these sectors a national priority. To build 1.2 million homes we need the workers to do it and that just doesn't happen on its own. From investing in skills and training to tackling the housing crisis with actual policies, not just empty words, we are committed to building a future that delivers for Australia's workers, families and businesses. Our policies are helping to grow the pipeline of skilled workers, creating opportunities for men and women and young Australians, and supporting businesses. A skilled workforce is the backbone of the construction industry. This government is delivering where it matters most, and, unlike those opposite, we are actually doing something about addressing the skills shortage.

Before I go into the policies we have enacted, it is important to paint a picture of the workforce shortage situation when we came to government. When we came to government we inherited the worst skills shortage in half a century after a near decade of fiscal and policy neglect from the Liberals. The OECD said Australia had the second-highest labour shortage per capita among the OECD. So we had to address that near decade of neglect with actual policy and we believe the best way to skill local construction workers is through TAFE.

Since its implementation, our free-TAFE policy has seen over half a million people go to TAFE to reskill. It has opened the door to thousands of Australians to gain the qualifications they need to build futures for our nation. Last year alone, over 24,000 people enrolled in construction, and we have announced plans to roll out an additional 20,000 free TAFE and VET places specifically targeting the construction and housing sectors. We are also funding 5,000 new preapprenticeship places, helping aspiring tradies take their first steps into the industry, ensuring they are ready to tackle the challenges of tomorrow, because to build homes we need the workers to do it. It is not just about the numbers; it is about creating an industry that also welcomes talent from all walks of life and that includes empowering women to take their place in the construction industry, a field where they have been historically underrepresented. We have a $61 million program to help women's careers in construction to address the systemic and cultural barriers that have made it harder for women to enter this industry. The results so far are encouraging. Of the 24,000 Aussies who took up construction in TAFE last year, over 3,000 were women.

This is progress, but we know there's more to do. Empowering women is not just about equality; it's about securing the future of construction itself. If we are to meet the needs of and get more workers into the construction industry, we must harness the potential of every skilled and talented individual.

We inherited the skills shortage crisis. We put in policies to address it. What do you think the Liberals' response has been? Like on most things, they have said no. They refused to back the government's initial free TAFE policy. They refused to support expanded access to new energy apprenticeships. Incredibly, their deputy leader has said TAFE is wasteful spending. Addressing the skills shortage is not wasteful spending because, to address it, you need more than a weak motion in this House like we are debating now; you actually need policies. To help the construction industry you need more than empty words or policies which simply wire-transfer funds directly to developers. We haven't had a single workforce policy from those opposite other than that. There wasn't a single skills policy in the opposition leader's budget reply speech. It's been nearly three years and we haven't heard boo from them about what their plans are.

The contrast between the Liberals and Labor couldn't be more stark on skilling up our young men and women to get into construction. We want more tradies. We want them to build our homes in our cities and our regions. We will address the workforce challenges we inherited with good policy, with free TAFE and with the urgency the country needs to fix the mess the Liberals left us. On this side, we will continue to put up these policies. On that side, they will continue to say no.

Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sometimes you feel like you're in a different universe in this place. It's almost like that global pandemic called COVID didn't exist and didn't shut down the world and contribute significantly to and been a primary factor of the skills shortage that we face. It's almost like it was all the coalition, if you listen to the member for Bennelong. Those opposite are very good at selectively quoting statistics and selectively talking about things. We saw it last week in this House in the ministerial statement on the economy. The Treasurer stood at the dispatch box and told all Australians and everyone in the House how lucky they are, how great the economy is going and that we've never had it better. In fact I'll use his own words. He said:

This is the soft landing that we have been planning for and preparing for …

So the Treasurer is very happy to claim success. I want to commend the member for Forde, because this motion is important. It gives another example of the reality that Australians are facing compared to the spin of those opposite, particularly the Treasurer, who keeps patting himself on the back for the wonderful job that he is supposedly doing in the Australian economy. The problem with that is that every person I speak to in my community, whether they are business owners or employees, families or community groups, are struggling.

To show the disconnect, two weeks ago I was talking to two food bank community organisations, two completely separate groups, and they both talked about the working poor that they are looking after at the moment. One of those organisations is up 400 per cent, yet we have to listen to the Treasurer tell us that this is what he was planning for and that the Australian economy as we feel it today is a success—talk about disconnect!

Another disconnect is when we look at insolvencies, because we've seen the highest number of business insolvencies in a financial year—11,053 in the financial year 2023-24—under this government. The worst quarter of business insolvencies on record was 3,331 in the September quarter of 2024. These are the challenges that we face. More businesses are having to become insolvent because of the challenges they face. When we look at the October numbers, the most recent numbers, and we get to construction, 353 construction businesses have become insolvent. In my home state of Victoria, it is 106 businesses. In hospitality, 224 businesses have become insolvent. In Victoria, that's 152 businesses. Organisations like hospitality and construction really are the canary in the coalmine when it comes to the economic challenges we face.

When we look at construction and the skills shortages and the insolvency crisis that the member for Forde raised, one of the reasons construction has such a significant impact is that it impacts all the way along that supply chain. When a construction business goes under, it is heartbreaking for those people that have paid a deposit to the builder, wanting to get their house built. But, when a construction business, particularly a builder, declares bankruptcy or goes insolvent, there is a whole network, a whole ecosystem of subcontractors—electricians, plumbers, labourers—and hardware stores, which provide the raw materials, that are reliant on that business to pay them once it gets paid through the building contract. When a construction business goes insolvent, there is a line of people, a line of communities, that are impacted.

In my electorate of Casey, we are lucky to have the highest number of trades as a percentage of the workforce all through the country. So I've seen the impact firsthand. What has happened, which is continuing to drive costs up and making it hard for businesses to operate, is, instead of working with one, two or maybe three key business partners, an electrician or plumber is now having to try and diversify across more businesses, more project managers, to diversify their risk in case the major builder goes bankrupt. That's adding stress and pressure to those families and to my community. But we have a government that doesn't provide any solutions to those challenges. They just continue to pat themselves on the back and tell the Australian people about the great job they're doing. But no-one in Casey, no-one in our community, is feeling better today than they did 2½ years ago. They've been let down by the Albanese Labor government.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The previous speaker talked about the pressures that Australian families are under, and, just for those listening at home or out on the road, wherever you might be, consider this: his political organisation, the federal opposition, have not supported one cost measure that we've brought in, and their answer is to rail against fee-free TAFE. That's a proposition that the federal opposition under the Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, are putting to you—making people pay more for their education to get the skills that our economy needs and that our young Australians and retraining Australians need. They are going to make you pay for that because somehow that's going to help with the cost of living. It's quite an extraordinary position to have.

Meanwhile, the Albanese Labor government is building the workforce required to build Australia's future. We are committed to measures that ensure we have the workforce that we need all around the country and, obviously, most importantly to me, in the Northern Territory, in Darwin and Palmerston. Just as TAFE is a proudly Australian story, it is also a key to a better future and to a whole world of opportunities. It opens doors and gives Australians one of the greatest opportunities they have not just to fulfil their potential but to expand their potential and, in doing so, expand what we're able to produce and achieve in this great nation.

It's a homegrown solution to the skills gap that is hampering the business that those opposite purport to want to support. It's also a homegrown solution to the skills gap that is hurting our economy. It is true that the Albanese Labor government has delivered two budget surpluses, when those opposite weren't able to do that in almost a decade. However, we understand that the economy is still under a range of pressures. What we need in our nation, and what we are doing, is getting the balance right by getting TAFE right. It means we'll be better placed to get the future right. That's why our government is taking our commitment to free TAFE a crucial step further by making it permanent.

Those opposite, as they've finally admitted, don't like fee-free TAFE. They want people to pay for it, and that would put another barrier in front of young Australians who want to enter the workforce and start their working lives. It would put another barrier in front of retraining Australians who want to reskill and retrain to start working in a different industry. That's the danger with those opposite.

Our government, the Albanese government, is committed to working with the states and territories to strengthen the VET sector to ensure it can deliver the quality education that Australians deserve, the education we need to build the Northern Territory's future and our nation's future.

Those opposite neglected the sector for years—for almost a decade, as I've said—and that has compounded the effects of the COVID pandemic with skills shortages, concerningly, in nationally critical industries. But we are addressing these shortages to ensure that we have the workforce that is needed.

The Albanese Labor government is delivering fee-free TAFE to address our workforce shortages. Fee-free TAFE has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Australians, particularly those in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, providing cost-of-living relief as well as that pathway to a well-paid, secure job. That's good for families and good for the whole nation.

We're also focusing on training for places in areas of high demand, providing access to priority cohorts including those vulnerable constituents that I mentioned. We are supporting students by removing those financial barriers to study. Delivering skills needed to address our workforce shortages is top of mind for our government. We're delivering the workforce that business needs to build Australia for a more secure and more prosperous future.

Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the motion brought in relation to the workforce shortages that Australia is currently experiencing under this Albanese Labor government. I am not sure if the member for Solomon—I was in the chamber for most of his speech—is speaking on the same motion as I am because the member for Solomon spoke only about the alleged assistance the Albanese Labor government is giving to TAFE. But the VET sector is a lot broader than just TAFE. I'm not sure if the member for Solomon is aware of this. Certainly, on our side, we are very aware of this.

I want to speak about the chronic workforce shortages that are throughout Australia and, particularly, in my electorate of Hughes. They are in four main areas. The free-TAFE legislation that this government, those on that side, spruik constantly is doing nothing to help there. I also note that the member for Solomon made a lot of comments about skills shortages being around for a decade. The last time I looked those on that side were in government. They've been in government for 2½ years and have done nothing to address the chronic workforce shortages.

Let's start with manufacturing. Following the redistribution, my electorate now includes south-west Sydney which includes a lot of manufacturing, particularly around the Ingleburn and Moorebank areas. I've been out to those factories. The people in those factories have been saying to me that they can't get fitters, they can't get turners and they can't get machinists. They can't get people to actually run their machines. I've heard nobody on that side talk about how they are going to address the chronic skills shortages in the manufacturing industry. Of course, the manufacturing industry actually produces goods that can be used here, and it produces goods that we can sell overseas. But there has been nothing for those people, nothing for the manufacturing industry from this government.

Let me turn to construction. This week on the news we've heard, yet again, that a record number of construction companies have gone bust in the last month under this Albanese Labor government. That's a record for my home state of New South Wales, the most populous state in the country and the state that most needs construction companies—because guess what they do? They build houses.

The other thing that I haven't heard from anyone on that side is a reference to the report from the Master Builders Association which is the subject of this motion. In that report, the Master Builders Association talks about chronic skills shortages throughout the construction industry. We are talking not only about electricians, builders and plumbers; we are talking about roofers—it took me six months to get a roofer—we're talking about tilers and we're talking about bricklayers. These trades are where the chronic workforce shortages are. I know this. I speak to the construction companies in my electorate. About 20 per cent of people in my electorate are employed in the trades. I've said to them, 'In the last 2½ years, what has the Labor government done to address the skills shortages in the construction industry?' They are silent because this government has not done anything to address the chronic skills shortages in the trades in construction.

Let's turn to hospitality. I've got many, many beautiful cafes and restaurants in my electorate of Hughes. Whenever I go into one of them to buy a coffee or have dinner, they all say the same thing: they can't get kitchen hands; they can't get chefs; they can't get baristas; they can't get people to wait on tables. When I say, 'Was it this bad 2½ years ago?' guess what they say? 'No; it has got substantially worse under this Albanese Labor government.' The government does not care about those who work in hospitality and does not care about those who own small businesses in hospitality.

So when I stand here and hear those on that side talking about fee-free TAFE, I know that is only one little part of the equation. They may have brought in fee-free TAFE legislation; what they haven't done is address the chronic workforce shortages in all of the trades that have continued and been exacerbated under this government.

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Hughes. There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.