Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Cameron for the question and his interest in the important issue of skilling up Australians. The most important thing a government can do is to give people the security and dignity that comes with a job, and this government has a very proud record on jobs. During the global financial crisis we saved hundreds of thousands of jobs by our investment stimulus, and since coming to government we have created 750,000 jobs in the economy. abor is the party of work, jobs and opportunity. That is why this budget will get more Australians into work. We will invest in skills, we will let many people keep more of their pay when they take up work and we will require more from those who are not working. Labor believes that those who can work should work and those who want to work should have the opportunity to gain the skills they need to enter the workforce.

Yesterday the government announced a $3 billion investment in skills and training initiatives over six years to ensure Australia has the skilled workers the economy needs and ensure more Australians can benefit from our growing prosperity. Through these measures, we are putting industry at the heart of the training effort with a new national workforce development fund that will be administered by an independent, industry led workforce agency; reforming the apprentice­ship system to make it more modern and flexible, including accelerated apprentice­ships and mentoring support; and increasing access to the workforce for disadvantaged Australians by addressing the barriers that they confront.

Many Australians find themselves locked out of our success, sitting on the sidelines unable to join the workforce for a whole range of reasons. This budget gives them the chance to get off the sideline and get into the game, to share in our nation's success and build a better life through skills development.