Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to talk about the Albanese Labor government's unwavering support and dedication to vocational education and a robust TAFE system. After smashing our fee-free TAFE targets last year, with almost 300,000 enrolments, the government is now rolling out another 300,000 places for 2024-2026. Australia has a real need to develop and maintain the capability and the diverse workforce that we're going to require in this country. We have industries like hospitality and tourism that have taken a serious hit through the pandemic and other recent events, and we have need to grow the care economy.

Having the ongoing ability to fill jobs in community services, early childhood and aged care, amongst other areas, is going to be critical to our future successes. We know that there are critical skills gaps in areas such as construction, digital cybersecurity, agriculture and advanced manufacturing. The answer seems quite straightforward when you look at those things together: invest in our public TAFE system; incentivise school leavers, graduates, jobseekers; and fill these gaps. But under the previous government we saw cuts to TAFE, we saw a lack of commitment, we saw apprenticeships slashed and we saw every indication that skills and this kind of vocational training were not in their core priorities.

I'd like to think that, as we've seen this situation culminate in the last couple of years in serious skills shortages, there would have been some introspection from across the room, some re-evaluation of priorities and a commitment. But, no—we just have this ever-negative approach, carping on at the positive things that the Albanese Labor government are doing, devoid of ideas and criticising everything that comes across this chamber. They even call our investments 'wasteful spending'. Now, when we're looking at businesses, both large and small, who are desperate for employees, for the skills to fill those gaps, and to make the most of the potential of our economy into the future, I can't see how anyone would say that this was wasteful spending. We've seen so many people sign up during the appeal for fee-free TAFE, so it's not a dearth of people wanting to train. Like I said, we have businesses out there desperate for those skills.

We need to look at a long-term plan for our economy, and that's exactly what the Albanese Labor government has. We need to kickstart our manufacturing, capitalise on the employment and growth opportunities that we have in the sustainable energy transition. All of this needs a skilled workforce. This isn't just about the government's aspiration; this is about the aspiration of young people and job seekers across the country. Education is both empowering and a powerful lever for social mobility. Australians rightly expect—and deserve—secure, long-term employment that will afford them a decent standard of living. Far too many people find that there is a barrier in those fees while they are struggling with the cost of living, so these fee-free TAFE courses address some of that. They help address the cost-of-living pressures and put further training and education within the reach of so many more Australians.

We're also undertaking a review into the apprenticeship incentive scheme. We need to understand what's standing in people's way and what barriers they are facing so that we can find ways to get past them and help more and more Australians into those jobs of the future to help fill that skills gap. It is important for Australians who want to upskill that we are looking at everything we can possibly do to bridge that gap.

The Albanese Labor government is getting on with the job. We are delivering more TAFE enrolments and a stronger vocational training system, and we're making sure that Australian industry has the workforce it needs to meet future demands. We are giving everyday Australians a better pathway into secure, long-term employment because, for our economy to be all it can, for Australians to be all they can and for our support to be all that it can, this is what we need to do.