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

Australia has a long and proud trad­ition of producing highly skilled workers. Skilled workers are critical for raising our productivity and securing Australia's future prosperity. Our future is in a high-skill, high-wage economy; that is the future for Austra­lia. That is why the Gillard government is investing $3 billion to upskill Australia's workforce. The Building Australia's Future Workforce package is encouraging more Australians who can work to take advantage of the jobs that are being created. That is why we are also funding 130,000 training places under the new National Workforce Development Fund—training places in partnership with industry training the workers they need to give those workers the opportunity to take high-skill, high-pay jobs. But we are also working with those who are excluded from the workforce at the moment to increase participation, to give everyone who can work a chance to get a job and share in the prosperity of Australia.