Doorstop interview, Launceston

SUBJECTS: Key Apprenticeship Program; Free TAFE; Trades pathways; Telstra. JESS TEESDALE, MEMBER FOR BASS: A huge thanks to Robbie from Next Phase Electrical for helping us once more learn about the progress that these guys are doing, and the work that Launceston’s done to back programs that really support small businesses to bring on more apprentices just like these guys.

So thank you everyone so much for coming. ANDREW GILES, MINISTER FOR SKILLS AND TRAINING: Thanks very much, Jess. It’s great to be here and it seems that every time I come to northern Tassie, it’s a blue sky.

It was a blue sky in Melbourne when I left this morning, so thank you for organising that. Jess Teesdale is doing an amazing job as the Member for Bass. I think people here probably see how thoughtful, how considered, how intelligent she is.

What perhaps they don’t see is the impact she has on national policy as a really staunch advocate for the communities of northern Tasmania in Canberra. And I’m really excited, I have been looking forward to saying this, to be here with two Labor senators. Helen Polley who knows more about Tasmania, knows more about the Senate, knows more about Australian politics than most people, and to have Tammy Tyrrell make the decision to join the Labor Party is something I’m thrilled about.

Tammy was very tough to negotiate with in the Senate, and to have her in the Caucus is such an asset, her experience and her passion. We're here today thanks to Next Phase Electrical, and I’m really grateful that Robbie has given me the opportunity come down a second time to one of his projects and engage with work that he does. His passion as the owner of a family business that's had a great run, a great run in doing electrical work in a range of fields but particularly in investing in Tasmania’s future.

This is a business that’s been committed to training. We see two examples of that in Xander and Lily. Lily, who’s a little bit further down the track, but Xander who only started his electrical apprenticeship quite recently, and Xander and Robbie are both beneficiaries of the Albanese Labor Government's Key Apprenticeship Program.

I'm pleased to say today that this program, which provides a $5,000 incentive for a business to hire an apprentice in a housing related field, and $10,000 to that apprentice over the life of their apprenticeship, has now seen in just 11 months 695 Tasmanians sign up to the program. That’s 695 Tasmanians on the tools and making a contribution, doing that most important of all our national goals, building homes for Australians, building homes for Tasmanians, just like the homes here.

And it’s really important to note, and Jess touched on this, that those 695 apprentices have been hired by 422 separate businesses. That’s showing that the decisions that we’ve made to really think about targeting our spending as a Federal Government is making a real impact. Small businesses are getting the support they need, businesses that don’t have large dedicated HR departments – I think Robbie, you’re the HR department, aren’t you?

ROBBIE GROSE, NEXT PHASE ELECTRICAL: Absolutely. So knowing that upfront cost has really been a disincentive for businesses who want to hire a young Tasmanian, or even a not so young Tasmanian, to give them that opportunity. It's really terrific to be able to discuss the difference this is making with Robbie, and to think about Xander too starting his journey, how the incentive system is making a difference.

Now, of course this program isn't all that we’re doing to support skills. When the Albanese Government came into government, we faced the worst skills crisis in 50 years. This was impacting just about every aspect of our national life.

We've worked really hard to turn that around, through entering your National Skills Agreement with every single state and territory, a $30 billion shared commitment. We’ve also introduced Free TAFE, Free TAFE which has seen nearly 10,000 Tasmanians benefit, getting the opportunity to enroll in courses that will deliver real jobs that are needed in the community.

And I'm really looking forward to sitting down with the Rockliff Government to make sure that from next year, Tasmania could continue to enjoy the benefits of Free TAFE, something that we made law in the Albanese Government. But I'm absolutely thrilled to be here, because this is not just about numbers, it’s about lives. It’s about the lives that are going to be changed by people being able to have a home and a roof over their head right here in St Leonards.

It’s about businesses like Next Phase Electrical given the support not just to thrive as a business, but to keep investing in Tasmanians and offer them jobs that will make a real contribution. Fundamentally, it's about young people, like Lily here, a young woman carving a path for other women in the electoral trades, and Xander who really tells the story of this program.

So I'm so thrilled to reconnect with them. I'm so thrilled that they are keeping on with their trade and contributing to Tasmanians. I'm really pleased that Robbie can keep talking about the great work that he does.

JOURNALIST: How beneficial has this program been for your business? And you know, you've received wage subsidies of five grand, how's that going given, you know, the current cost of living? Yes, certainly assisting through the apprenticeship, given them a little bit back in training as well.

We do have a fair bit of downtime, trying to upskill and get the guys doing, more exposure, what they generally wouldn’t have early on in the apprenticeship. So yeah, certainly working through there. Got a lot of interest around the state for future apprentices as well.

JOURNALIST: How much interest? That was another question. We’ve got a couple of more apprentices who are very interested, will probably come on board in next couple of months.

So yeah, we don’t generally do it this time of year, normally it's early in the calendar year that we do that. JOURNALIST: So, would you owe that to the incentive? Oh yeah, absolutely.

It's going to be a good thing. Hopefully it continues on. As you’ve just mentioned, Andrew, it’s benefits are being seen in Tasmania already.

JOURNALIST: How are your new staff progressing a few months on the way now? Progressing? Ooh, bit of a challenge.

JOURNALIST: How’s Xander? Xander's going alright. Lily sort of it makes him, increases the pace a little bit.

A bit of challenge for the boys. JOURNALIST: Not surprising. We might speak to Lily if we can.

I guess how long in your apprenticeship are you now? LILY ROBINSON, APPRENTICE: Just over two years now. Just clocked the second year.

JOURNALIST: Okay. Well, and how are you finding it the last two years? It's good.

It’s obviously picked up a lot, like our work rate and everything. It's a bit of a busier time this year, like, we're starting new jobs and everything. But it's really good for us because we get to go from start to finish now.

Second year really opens up opportunities for us to start working by ourselves and not being an assistant with our tradesmen – learning by ourselves, tackling all the challenges that come to us. JOURNALIST: So, have you directly benefited from this incentive? No, I have not.

JOURNALIST: Right. But you would encourage other apprentices, especially women, to do so? Definitely.

I reckon the 10 grand would be extremely well received. It would help a lot with their tools and stuff like that, just easier. Because I had to buy some new tools in the last couple weeks, and it was a very costly move.

JOURNALIST: Are you hearing from any other women that this is something that interests them and the incentive would help them get them over the line? I do have a few friends that have actually told me that they have an interest in the trade and they'd like to do it. Now, they haven't actually heard about the incentive, I don't think, but I'm sure it would help them make their decision.

JOURNALIST: Is that upfront cost of buying tools a bit of a challenge when you're trying to enter the industry? Sometimes it can be, but we get a lot of help from Robbie where he will pay for it for ourselves and we'll pay it back in a weekly deduction just off our pay, which is really helpful. JOURNALIST: Great.

So I guess we spoke about six months ago. How are you finding your apprenticeship? XANDER PRETORIUS, APPRENTICE: Brilliant.

I'm enjoying it and I'm learning heaps every day. I was telling these guys up there earlier, just constantly doing different things every day, which I'm enjoying. I didn't realise that that's sort of something that I wanted to do, is just, yeah, keep constantly learning.

I completed first year of TAFE and I'm keen to sort of stick into being on the tools every week now for a little bit. JOURNALIST: So, have you received your $2,000 yet or more? Not yet.

I think I'm due for it in about a month's time. Yeah, just trying to organise all that. JOURNALIST: How beneficial will that be given the current cost of living?

Any money's brilliant for me, constantly getting bills coming in. So, that's, it will go towards tools. I think that’ll cover my rego payment for next year.

JOURNALIST: And are you glad that you found out about this incentive and now you're doing a job you love? Definitely. Yeah, definitely.

Ten grand over four years will help you out no matter who you are, what you're doing, or what job you're in. So very glad that that's on top of the role that I'm enjoying. JOURNALIST: Cool.

And would you recommend this to other tradies? Definitely. It's a good challenge.

You make mistakes, you learn from them. Constantly doing something different every day. Robbie's given me lots of exposure to different things, which is good.

I'm not constantly doing the same thing every day. I'm 100 per cent enjoying it. JOURNALIST: Great.

Perfect. Thank you. Just a question on this one.

Do you know what the national level is, not the Tasmanians? Around 29,000 in 11 months. So, it's been a really big pickup.

And again, part of the challenge is making sure that people know about it. I feel a bit bad because I think Lily started just a little bit before we rolled this out. So, sorry, Lily.

But there are obviously some other supports out there too. We think this has made a real difference in encouraging people to start. But more importantly, going to some of your questions, enabling people to stay with cost of living pressures that emerge from time to time.

The things that Xander talked about can't be the things that mean an apprentice drops out of their trade. JOURNALIST: Just one on something else. We've obviously seen a Telstra outage today.

I think some of it has been solved. But how frustrating is that for business owners around the country? And do you have any advice for people?

Look, as someone who was affected by it, I'm a bit conscious that I may be a bit behind some of the news on this. I know certainly some of the issues that have been raised by my colleague, Minister McBain, in terms of impact on emergency relief, that's probably the most important consideration. The reports I've heard really highlight the work that Telstra have been doing to work out what happened.

It’s really critical that we understand that. All of us rely on effective mobile access to do our day-to-day existence, to manage payments, in my case, to make sure I can board my flight to Launceston on my phone. So these are really significant issues, and I think the Australian community expects some answers.