Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is always very, very hard to follow Senator George Campbell, in whom we find a man who has committed many years of his life to the improvement of skills and training around tradesmen. I commend you, Senator Campbell.

I rise to speak in support of the Skills Australia Bill 2008. This bill will put in place a system which will support the needs of Australia and Australians in developing and maintaining an effective skills training system and by providing a response to the national skills shortage. This bill will ensure not only that adequate systems and support are provided to the people in the industry but also that there is appropriate investment in skills and training in Australia. We have seen over past years the neglect that vocational education received under the former Howard government; a government so out of touch that its eleventh hour response to the skills shortage which they created was a half-baked idea to fund Australian Technical Colleges, referred to as ATCs.

The ATCs were nothing other than the poor cousin of the already established and proven TAFE system, which was a system that had been pillaged during the Howard years by none other than the now dynamic leadership duo of the federal opposition—the member for Bradfield, Dr Brendan Nelson, and the member for Curtin, Ms Julie Bishop—who I may remind senators opposite were former ministers for education, science and training in the previous government. Obviously the rot had set in a long, long time ago.

If the last-minute announcements to fund Australian Technical Colleges had been invested in the TAFE system, they would by now have significantly addressed the skills shortage. Even in the final moments of the Howard era the ATCs were neither fully operational nor funded appropriately. The ATCs in 2006-07 did not create one additional training place or apprenticeship. The ATC bills introduced by the former government did not increase the overall percentage of federal money spent on vocational education and training. The Howard government botched its one and only policy response to the skills problem.

Of the 21 ATCs, only three were to be government run; the others were to be gifts to industry by the Howard government in an attempt to keep the companies silent on the neglect they oversaw in skills training and development. The Australian government was funding the establishment but not the operation of these ATCs. We saw the complete duplication of the states’ TAFE system and they were then handed to private corporations.

The Rudd Labor government, in 2007 as part of our plan to address the skills shortage, committed to delivering trades training centres to each of Australia’s 2,650 secondary schools. We have committed funding for this into the years ahead. It will be delivered because we are a government committed to honouring our undertakings to Australian people—unlike those who preceded us, who categorised their promises into those which were core and those which were non-core. We believe in the promises we give and we will deliver on them.

These trades training centres, in partnership with the states, will have a major impact in reducing skills shortages across Australia by building stronger partnerships between local industry and local education providers. A core aim must be to make sure that these training centres are relevant to the local context so that students have the sorts of skills and training that local employers are looking for. This is one way to ensure the long-term viability and success of trades training centres and is part of the Rudd Labor government’s plan for skills and training in Australia and ensures we invest in our future.

Public investment in post-secondary education under the Howard government fell by eight per cent between 1996 and 2008. In the same period, the average public investment in post-secondary education for the rest of the developed world had risen by 38 per cent. Why were we in Australia spending less and less? Why was this issue not given priority in the Howard cabinet room? I do not know. Maybe honourable senators opposite will be able to enlighten us because they were in the party room, not me.

Skills Australia through this bill will be allocated $1 billion, of which $14.6 million will be used to implement the Rudd Labor government’s 450,000 additional training places over the next four years. It is worth noting that 20,000 of these places will be made available from April 2008 as part of our commitment to immediately addressing the skills shortage. Skills Australia will incorporate representatives from industry, unions and government at all levels, state and federal. It will ensure a targeted and effective response to the skills shortage and see that we have a plan for the future of skills and trade training in this country. This new body will formulate skills policy and help create some of the extra training places announced during the election. Skills Australia will advise on current and future demand for skills and training.

During 2007, this government took a plan to the Australian people to deal with the skills shortage. As I said earlier, Labor committed to 450,000 vocational education and training places over the next four-year period, which was a great deal more than Australia was getting from the Howard government. Of these places, no fewer than 175,000 will be provided specifically for Australians entering and re-entering the workforce from unemployment. As mentioned earlier, this government has already acted swiftly to address the skills shortage. Twenty thousand of those training places will be rolled out between 1 April and 30 June this year. Skills Australia will be fighting the inflation challenge by ensuring that we have additional training places available to get people skilled up in the areas of the economy where they are needed the most.

The Rudd Labor government’s Skilling Australia for the Future policy will develop and consolidate the skills capacity of the Australian workforce and ensure that demand for skills and training is matched. The Rudd Labor government’s plans will close the skills gap in the Australian economy in three key ways: firstly, by funding an additional 450,000 training places over the next four years; secondly, by ensuring that most of the 450,000 places lead to a higher level qualification; and, thirdly, by placing industry demand at the heart of the skills training system.

Debate interrupted.