Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

If that is the case then I accept that; but documents are normally tabled here. We will see where the cover-up is and we will see what documents we have. They have to accept, I think, that what this is about is one thing: it is about destroying the capacity for working-class tradies to get a trade certificate. That is what this is about. What it is going to mean is that kids are going to end up going into registered training organisations like former Senator Day's pet training organisation, they will achieve some outcomes in terms of their technical education but they will not receive a trade certificate.

I think the coalition are not aware of how important it is to have a trade certificate. I do, because it is my only qualification. My only qualification is a trade certificate and a City & Guilds certificate to say that I completed my technical qualifications as a fitter and machinist. So it is very important that tradies get their trade qualification. It is very important that we do not see a diminution of the traditional trade training that takes place—the traditional trade training that even the government's own advisory group said was delivering. It was delivering flexibility. It was delivering good tradespeople, and they recommended against what this government has done. This government ignored their own group and their recommendations and set about giving almost $2 million to the most reliable crossbench senator in this place, the former Senator Day—a former member of the Liberal Party, a former high-office holder in the Liberal Party and a former very, very large donator to the Liberal Party in South Australia.

There are 1.65 million tradespeople in this country who are delivering the goods for this country in terms of productivity, in terms of the effort that tradies put in every day. They will be appalled to think that their trade certificate, the classification that they have and, for many of them, the only formal qualification that they have will be no more under this government, because this is what it is about: it is about destroying the trade certificate. It is about getting kids out of school into education within the registered training organisations, sitting on their backsides for most of the time, getting technical training but no on-the-job training—and, if you go on the job, you will go on the job with absolutely no payment.

This is an absolute rort. Former Senator Day went to Senator Birmingham and said, 'Give me $1.4 million for my pet project, 'and then Senator Birmingham set up the process to deliver not only the $1.4 million that he asked for but $2 million plus—$2 million plus was delivered! And the expert panel said, 'No need to do this.' But Senator Birmingham moved along and actually delivered what the expert panel said should not happen.

So tradies all over the country will be watching. The 1.6 million tradies in this country will have their trade recognition diminished under the coalition—absolutely diminished. This is not about productivity and it is not about the trades; it is about paying off former Senator Day, who was here as a reliable vote for the coalition. (Time expired)