Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business, Senator Cash. Can the minister update the Senate on how the Liberal and Nationals government's plan is securing Australia's pipeline of skilled workers now and into the future?

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator O'Sullivan for his question and in particular I acknowledge the work he did prior to being a senator in relation to ensuring that Australians are upskilled, in particular in our home state of Western Australia.

The Morrison-Joyce government without a doubt is a job creating government. Since we were elected in 2013 over 1.7 million jobs have been created. For context, we actually had a population the size of South Australia move into work over the last nine years. That is a great thing for the Australian people. The unemployment level as we know now sits at 4.2 per cent. It is lower than when Labor was last in office. Of course, getting Australians into jobs is the focus of our policies when it comes to recovering from COVID-19.

Senator O'Sullivan, as you know, one of the focuses is investing in vocational education and training. Our investment in skills and training commenced when we were elected to office in 2013. It is now at record levels in Australia. In the past two years the coalition government has invested around $12 billion into the skills and training system, and this year alone we're expecting a record $7.1 billion investment. As we move towards the election, it's important to remind ourselves what Labor did to vocational education and training when they were last in office. If you recall, they totally destroyed the reputation of the VET sector. Colleagues, who can forget Labor's disastrous VET FEE-HELP system, signing students up to courses that didn't exist? It's now costing the Australian taxpayer $2 billion in recrediting.

Slade Brockman (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator O'Sullivan, a supplementary question?

Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the minister for that answer. How has the government's plan for skills helped businesses take on more apprentices and keep them on?

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A number of the policies that we have put in place throughout COVID-19 have well and truly assisted businesses not just to take on more apprentices but also to keep those apprentices that they have taken on. Our Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements wage subsidy has been an overwhelming success. The wage subsidy has put almost 277,000 Australians into an apprenticeship or traineeship, and that's in over 82,000 businesses. What a fantastic step-up for those 277,000 Australians into their new jobs, and for those 82,000 businesses. Having that government investment in those apprentices and trainees has been well and truly reflected in the fact that the 277,000 are now in apprenticeships or traineeships. During the pandemic about 38 per cent of businesses have increased the number of apprentices that they have. (Time expired)

Slade Brockman (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator O'Sullivan, a second supplementary question?

Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How is the government working with states and territories to address the unique challenges in skills demand?

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Throughout COVID-19 we have worked with the states and territories, particularly in relation to delivering the skilled workforce that Australia needs. You will recall that we set up the JobTrainer Fund. This was jointly funded between the states and territories and the Commonwealth government. It was a $2 billion JobTrainer program supporting over 400,000 free or low-cost training places in areas of demand. The key here was working with the states and territories to ensure that the investment we were making together properly reflected the demand in the workplace. When people sign up for those free or low-cost courses that you see offered by the individual states and territories, they know that the Morrison-Joyce government is supporting them to become upskilled in an area in which the labour market is saying, 'You will get a job.'

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.