Scott Ryan (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am not familiar with those particular comments, Senator Carr. I understand that you may be quoting—I take it on good faith that you have made a quote—but I am not aware of the full context.

But I will take this opportunity to outline the Commonwealth's role here. Senator Carr, as a member of the previous government, you are particularly familiar with that role, given your longstanding interest in this area. The Commonwealth government does fund the state governments through national partnership and special purpose payments that allow the states to deliver vocational training in the markets they still control. We do not directly fund TAFE; the states do. That is the measure that was adopted under the national partnership agreement that you signed.

I will take this opportunity to outline that when you look at the national partnership payments and the special purpose payments—some of which can be directed by the state governments to support TAFE—then in terms of the national partnership payments there has been a 58 per cent increase since this government came to office, if we consider this financial year and the payments that will fall due soon and if the states actually meet the targets that they have set. I might also say that, if we consider the special purpose and national partnership payments, we have seen an increase of 11 per cent.

Senator Carr, I know that those opposite have been making noise about contestability in this market, but I will also point out that contestability in the vocational education market was a specific part of the national partnership agreement that your government signed with the states. So it is absolutely hypocritical for those opposite to be making noises about contestability as they try to import a state election campaign into federal politics, knowing full well that the Commonwealth can do nothing—under the national partnership agreement that they signed—to directly fund any TAFE.