Kerry O'Brien (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Transport) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I remind the minister that the pipeline that she was just talking about is the one that this government has been in charge of for the last decade, and so the buck stops with this government. Can the minister now explain how the decision to change the name of the New Apprenticeships scheme to Australian Apprenticeships provides any incentives for employers and employees to gain skills—something that Professor Sloan said was desperately needed? Isn’t the name change just a $24 million rebranding exercise with no benefits to business or apprentices? Wouldn’t this money have been better spent actually training more apprentices rather than printing fancy new letterhead and paying more spin doctors?