Mary Doyle (Aston, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Skills and Training. How has the Albanese Labor government made training—

Hon. Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

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

Order! The same rules apply across the chamber. I'm going to ask the member for Aston to begin her question again, and she'll be heard in silence.

Mary Doyle (Aston, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Skills and Training. How has the Albanese Labor government made training more affordable so Australians get the skills they need for the jobs they want? Are there any proposals for TAFE and for skills for Australians that would leave them worse off?

Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Skills and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank my friend the member for Aston for her question. She's a proud graduate of Box Hill TAFE and a proud supporter of free TAFE. She knows that the Albanese government has delivered free TAFE to almost 600,000 Australians and that, by removing financial barriers, free TAFE is helping Australians to gain skills they need and to build Australia's future.

The Free TAFE Bill 2024 Senate inquiry has now received dozens of submissions highlighting the positive impact of free TAFE. The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation highlighted the case of Cristy Armour, a proud Gamilaraay woman who's completed the Diploma of Nursing, and she says this:

The Fee-Free funding has been amazing, and the money I've saved will go towards paying for my Bachelor of Nursing. Plus, studying for my diploma with TAFE Queensland means I'll knock a year off my bachelor studies.

What a great story. TAFE Directors Australia shared the story of Estelle Wyllie, who's just completed a Certificate III in Individual Support at TasTAFE, and she says this:

If it wasn't for Fee Free TAFE I wouldn't have been able to do the course in the first place as I wasn't in a position to pay for training at the time.

She goes on:

It's pretty much set me up with a career.

Again, it's a great story that the members opposite should be listening to. They should also think about how much students are saving. In Victoria, a student doing a Diploma of Nursing—

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

Order! Deputy Leader of the Opposition, stop it with the unparliamentary remarks and mean comments. It's just unbecoming. The minister will be heard.

Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Skills and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Let's think a bit more about Estelle and Cristy and all of the people like them—600,000 people who could be saving more than $17,700 doing a Diploma of Nursing in Victoria or $5,200 doing a Certificate III in Agriculture in Queensland. These are real savings for people getting skills we need. Free TAFE is making a difference, and that is why we are going to make it permanent.

The Liberals call it 'wasteful spending'. The Leader of the Opposition says he's going to cut wasteful spending. We know that he will cut free TAFE and make you worse off. The shadow assistant minister for education let the cat out of the bag at the Senate inquiry when he asked:

Would the South Australian government continue to fund fee-free TAFE if the Commonwealth was to reduce its funding?

Of course, this is no wonder, because the Deputy Leader of the Opposition has said:

… it's a key principle and tenet of the Liberal Party: if you don't pay for something, you don't value it.

It's not just free TAFE that the Liberal Party don't value; it's public education writ large. It's Medicare. It's the NDIS. It's public hospitals. Australians will be worse off under the Liberal Party and the Leader of the Opposition, who will cut free TAFE but spend billions of dollars on long lunches for bosses. That means there is a very clear choice at this election. The Liberals will cut free TAFE and make Australians worse off, whereas, under the Albanese government, free TAFE is here to stay.