Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator O'Neill, who I know has a very longstanding commitment to the public TAFE institutions in her state of New South Wales. Studying at TAFE has provided a pathway to a rewarding career for millions of Australians. There are so many career paths to choose from. Not only does it deliver great jobs; TAFE also helps to meet demand for skilled workers right across Australia.

Upon entering government, we were immediately struck by the skills shortage that we inherited. Is it any wonder given the billions of dollars of cuts made to TAFE under the leadership of people like Senator Cash? Over those 10 years it was, 'Cut, cut, cut.' No wonder we had that skills shortage!

OECD data identified Australia as having the second-highest labour shortage amongst OECD countries—the second-highest labour shortage amongst OECD countries! That is the legacy of a decade of coalition government and cuts to TAFE. The skills priority list, which shows what occupations are in shortage, nearly doubled. It jumped from 153 to 286 in a year. What a mess! It's just another mess from the coalition government. That's why we took immediate action and brought together Australians, unions, employers and civil society at the Jobs and Skills Summit and worked with state and territory governments to fund 180,000 fee-free TAFE places in 2023. I'm very pleased to advise the chamber that we have already smashed that target.

That's not all we're doing to support TAFE. The Albanese government is committed to ensuring that at least 70 per cent of Commonwealth VET funding goes to public TAFE. We support TAFE. We don't cut it, like we saw under the coalition. We're also delivering $50 million through the TAFE Technology Fund to improve IT facilities, workshops, laboratories and telehealth simulators across the country. We're working together to achieve better outcomes for students and to deliver more access and equity for the VET sector. We're backing TAFE.