PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

Mr REBELLO (McPherson) (13:11): I'd like to begin by echoing the sentiments of the previous coalition speaker, the member for Grey, in thanking everybody in this country who has chosen to undertake an apprenticeship, because we need that now more than ever before. We're seeing significant deficits in our construction sector, with Housing Industry Australia estimating that an additional 83,000 tradies will be required in order to build Labor's housing target.

In particular, in my home state of Queensland and on the southern Gold Coast and South-East Queensland more broadly, in the lead-up to the Olympics we are going to need construction workers and we're going to need people from across the apprenticeship and trade sectors. It is so critical that young people look at apprenticeships, look at the trades and think of them as an incredible opportunity that is there to be seized.

So I'd like to thank every person in my electorate, as well as across the country, who has decided to take that important step and take up a trade. And to all the people who support them—the teachers, the staff, and the organisations—I'd like to echo those thanks as well. I had the opportunity just recently to visit Sharna Bradley, of Gold Coast Trades College.

I've previously taken the shadow minister for housing to their Currumbin campus, but I went to see their new Burley Heads campus, and it's pretty incredible to see so many young people so excited about doing the practical element to their education. I was able to sit in at the back of some of the classes and see what they were doing. It's really encouraging and, quite frankly, heartening to see that next generation of tradesmen and tradeswomen, and it's a very good thing.

So I'd like to congratulate them on the opening of their new facility. It's one thing to talk about this and to congratulate all these people, but it's another to actually back them up by our actions here in this parliament. I'm very fortunate to have in my electorate TAFE Queensland's Robina campus, and I'm there very often, because it's become very much a heart and central hub of our community.

They host a number of different events for various community organisations and charities. Students are given the opportunity to be very hands on, whether it's through hairdressing, through early childhood education or through other incredible courses that they offer. But those people want us, in this place, to make sure we're actually backing a system that not only supports that sort of education but actually helps students get into employment afterwards.

I know that the government likes to speak about fee-free TAFE, but at the moment it's starting to look very much like 'job-free TAFE' because we've seen a government that's spending $1.5 billion on fee-free TAFE—which is a significant investment, no doubt—but our skills shortages aren't getting any better. In fact, they've actually worsened in terms of our situation as a country.

So the government needs to actually consider whether the investment of taxpayer funds is actually getting those students the outcomes and, in doing so, getting our country the outcomes that we need. I know that, at the end of the day, young Australians are going to university or to TAFE in order to set up their own futures and make that livelihood for themselves, their families and their kids.

So it's only right that this government actually reflect on the statistics, on what is happening in terms of employability for people through the TAFE sector and on what is happening after they leave their degree or their certificate. We're seeing that overall funding for VET activities has dropped since we left office. That's been driven overwhelmingly by one thing, and that's Labor slashing employer incentives from just over $4.01 billion to just $1.54 billion.

We saw the government scramble towards the end of last year to extend employer incentives, but that was only to some industries; we left a whole heap of businesses out in the dark. It's one thing to back people and to be out there championing fee-free TAFE, but if we're not actually getting the results for these young people or for the country, we're doing ourselves a disservice.

So I say this to the government: instead of just looking at the process, start to turn your mind to the results. If we're not getting the results as a country, something is wrong.