Matt Thistlethwaite (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Indigenous Employment and Economic Development, Senator Arbib. Can the minister inform the Senate about the Gillard government's record on keeping Australians in employment? How are Indigenous Australians benefiting from these programs?

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Thistlethwaite for the question. The Gillard government has an extremely strong record of supporting workers and Australian families. The Gillard government remains proud that we abolished Work Choices to provide fairness at work. We acted to support jobs during the GFC—

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Arbib, you might resume your seat. I need to hear the answer to the question. When there is silence, we will proceed.

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are investing over $3 billion in skills, for Australians to get the training they need to get ahead. We are proud that we have added over 750,000 jobs to the economy since coming to office. Of course Indigenous Australians are benefiting from those jobs and from those programs. In the 2010-11 financial year, Job Services Australia providers recorded 48,000 commencements into employment for Indigenous Australians, an increase of 25 per cent on the previous 12 months. The Indigenous Employment Program, the IEP, has exceeded its targets by 14 per cent, achieving over 31,000 commencements in jobs and training.

We knew as a government that the GFC would have a disproportionate effect on sections of the community. We knew it would have a big effect on young people. We knew it would have a big impact on apprenticeships. That is why we invested in apprenticeships. We trebled the commencement bonus for business, supporting small businesses and medium businesses but also supporting larger businesses, ensuring they could employ apprentices. We said we would target 20,000 apprenticeships, and we exceeded that, with well over 20,000 apprenticeships during that period. I am very happy to announce that the National Centre for Vocational Education Research found that we were able to return commencements to pre-GFC levels in just over one year. (Time expired)

Matt Thistlethwaite (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister please elaborate on how Apprentice Kickstart helped Indigenous young people to start a trade? In particular, what sorts of results did it achieve for Indigenous job seekers?

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In just over 12 months, we were able to rebuild our apprenticeship ranks, which will support business in a time of numerous challenges in terms of skills, but at the same time as that—

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Arbib, resume your seat. When there is silence, we will proceed.

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

But at the same time as we were recruiting apprentices, working with business, working with the big chambers, we signed up an extra 1,600 Indigenous apprentices, 850 of those in just three months. They help make up the 46,000 young Australians who were able to land a trade and a job as part of this important measure. This meant we did not have young people locked out of starting a trade, and of course it will support businesses going into the future, ensuring that they are not hindered by possible skills shortages. That is what the Labor government did during the global financial crisis, and it is having an impact now—supporting business, supporting our young people, making sure they are not thrown on the scrap heap.

Matt Thistlethwaite (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Can the minister please outline to the Senate what other measures the Gillard government has in place that are supporting Indigenous young people to build their skills base and get a job?

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Evans talked a bit about the work that is happening in the training system. The training rollout, $3 billion, is having an impact and an effect in terms of the Indigenous community, with the $2.5 billion Trade Training Centres in Schools Program; the Indigenous Cadetship Support, which has assisted over 650 Indigenous students to get a foothold in graduate programs since July 2009; the Australian School-Based Apprenticeships program, which has helped 1,400 Indigenous students into an apprenticeship; and, of course, the 6,400 Indigenous school based traineeships that were announced by the Gillard government in the May budget, something we will be working on with the school sector but also the business sector.

We know the work that is happening here from the Labor government. All this work will be under threat from an opposition—from Liberal Party senators—with a $70 billion black hole. They have no idea where the money is going to come from, but we do know that, when they are in doubt, they cut services. They cut services and they cut programs, and these will be the programs they cut. (Time expired)