Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the minister representing the Minister for Skills and Training. TAFE teachers in Tasmania are paid $60,000 a year, at the moment, but the tradies who should be teaching these apprentices earn upwards of $100,000. Last week, when I asked about Tasmanian TAFEs using Cold War era Soviet Union equipment to teach electrician apprentices, the minister representing the Minister for Defence said, 'We have revitalised the TAFE industry in this country.' How does the government explain how a TAFE operating on Cold War equipment has been revitalised in the nine months since you've been in government?

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

I can assure you that in the Albanese government you have a government that is an incredibly strong supporter of our TAFE system. That is a contrast to what we have seen over the last 10 years, where we saw a government ideologically opposed to the public provision of vocational education and training. If you needed any evidence of that, all you needed to do was look at the—I think it was $4 billion that was ripped out of the TAFE system by the former government, until just before the election when they realised they had a political problem and started throwing a few extra dollars at it.

There is no doubt that in your home state of Tasmania, in my home state of Queensland and in every state and territory across the country, our TAFE system has paid the price of being starved of resources for nearly 10 years by a Liberal and National government that was ideologically opposed to it.

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

By state governments!

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

I'll take the interjection from the—I'm not sure which—opposition senator who tried to blame state governments. You'd be talking about a Liberal state government in Tasmania, so I'm not sure how that helps your argument. But, Senator Lambie, I agree with you that our TAFEs do need more investment. They do need more investment when it comes to capital equipment. They do need more investment when it comes to teachers' wages. They do need more investment when it comes to places for TAFE. That's exactly why the Albanese government went to the election with a commitment to do so.

I think it was out of the Jobs and Skills Summit that we committed to provide 180,000 new fee-free TAFE places for skills that are in demand. I'm sure a considerable portion of them flow to your state of Tasmania, but this is an ongoing job. Again, unfortunately, this is one of the various messes that we have inherited from the former government. It will take time to repair, but at least we now have a government in Australia that is philosophically committed to our TAFE system and to making it the centre of our vocational education and training system.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Lambie, your first supplementary?

Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

tor LAMBIE () (): Don't worry, I'm coming for the Tasmanian state government over this. Due to significant cuts by the previous government, Australia has lost the capacity to train apprentices. We all know that. Every year we've had fewer and fewer apprentices entering the workforce. Electrical apprentices in Tasmania are practising wiring equipment that isn't up to code. How does this government hope to achieve its housing policy and build much-needed homes in Tasmania with so few apprentices in the construction industry?

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

Again, Senator Lambie, I agree that our TAFE system has been starved of resources for far too long and that this is something that we need the current federal government to be committed to, which is exactly what we are. I might say, Senator Lambie, I have a personal interest in this now, having a year 11 son who's undertaking a school based apprenticeship in the construction trade. I want to make sure that he gets the same sort of opportunities that you're looking for kids in Tasmania to get when they're considering trade careers.

As I mentioned, our government is investing significantly in the VET and TAFE system. In fact, we're investing $921.7 million over five years from 2022-23 to strengthen our VET system and address skills shortages. That includes $864.6 million over five years to provide the fee-free TAFE places that I was talking about, as well as significant funding in infrastructure and technology to support our TAFEs.

Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm wondering if you could tell me how much money you have passed, if you have passed any, to the state of Tasmania since you have been in government. How much has actually been allocated to our TAFE system for its revitalisation, and how much money has been spent, if you know that?

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

I might need to come back to you with the precise figures, but what I do have to hand is the funding that's been provided to each state and territory under the new 12-month national skills agreement that we negotiated with the states and territories last year. The figures that I have here are that for that 12-month agreement, the Commonwealth contribution to Tasmania is $13.5 million. The bulk of that is for those fee-free TAFE places. I'm pretty sure, Senator Lambie, that this would be the new funding that's being provided, in addition to whatever existing funding there was in place, but $13.5 million in total from the Commonwealth, of which $9.9 million is for fee-free TAFE places, $0.5 million for student support, $0.6 million for data infrastructure, $2.5 million for the TAFE Technology Fund, tranche 1. We would expect that, as time goes on, that additional funding will be increased because, as I've said, the Albanese government understands that the TAFE system is the centre of our training system. (Time expired)