Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Small and Family Business) Share this | Hansard source

Again, a big feature of last night's budget was the more than half a billion dollars of investment in skills for today and for tomorrow. We understand that businesses need employees with the right skills. One of the big announcements in last night's budget was that we will invest in 80,000 apprentices. That's right, colleagues. That's 80,000 apprentices across Australia in areas of skills need. We want to put in place the right policies, look at where the skills are required and ensure that businesses—in particular, small and family businesses—have access to the skill requirements that they need. As part of our investment, in excess of half a billion dollars, we're also going to ensure that those who are recently unemployed do have access to the foundational skills that they need to ensure that they are able to fully participate in the workplace.