QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Senator WATT (Queensland—Minister for the Environment and Water) (14:52): Well. I'll take the interjection from Senator 'High-Taxing' Hume, and— Senator WATT: I withdraw. I do take the interjection from Senator Hume, though, and make the point that we do believe in free TAFE because we do believe that it's an effective way of ensuring that Australians gain the qualifications they need.

Unfortunately, Senator Hume wasn't gripped by my first answer and she must have missed the fact that I made the point that free TAFE has already seen 275,000 course completions, and that number is growing every single day. As I was saying, Senator Hume specifically called out free TAFE as something that needed to be cut, and she isn't alone. Senator Henderson has said free TAFE is just not working, and that pesky Victorian the opposition leader in waiting, Josh Frydenberg—we know you're a fan of his, Senator Hume—was quoted in today's paper saying that the problem with free TAFE is that the costs add up.

Senator Hume, we know, is a supporter of Josh Frydenberg's return. She has said that they want their A team on the frontbench and need him back. That means they've got the B team in place— (Time expired)