Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

Indeed, as I just mentioned, a Marshall Liberal government has committed to providing $100 million to secure matching funding under the Skilling Australians Fund, creating more than 20,000 new places in the vocational educational system. They will provide, indeed, some 20,800 specific estimates of places in new apprenticeships and new traineeships.

And the response from employers is positive. Master Builders Association of SA stated it was great to see Steven Marshall and John Gardner backing apprenticeships and non-government training providers. Addressing the current skills shortage is a top priority for the building and construction industry. Of course, it comes on top of other commitments that they have made that would feed into our Skilling Australians Fund to deliver a new technical college in Adelaide's north-western suburbs, with a focus on encouraging students to work in the defence industry sector—a critical skills opportunity that I know, Senator Fawcett, you appreciate, where the Turnbull government is delivering record levels of investment and growth.