Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness) Share this | Hansard source

But at the same time as we were recruiting apprentices, working with business, working with the big chambers, we signed up an extra 1,600 Indigenous apprentices, 850 of those in just three months. They help make up the 46,000 young Australians who were able to land a trade and a job as part of this important measure. This meant we did not have young people locked out of starting a trade, and of course it will support businesses going into the future, ensuring that they are not hindered by possible skills shortages. That is what the Labor government did during the global financial crisis, and it is having an impact now—supporting business, supporting our young people, making sure they are not thrown on the scrap heap.