Senator BIRMINGHAM (South Australia—Minister for Education and Training) (14:49): Of great concern to the government have been some of the quality problems in the vocational education and training sector. The reality is that we found a situation, especially as it applied to the operation of the VET FEE-HELP scheme, where the previous government had put in place a poorly structured scheme that really ensured taxpayer money was being wasted and students were accumulating unnecessary debt. Senator Kim Carr: Why did it take you two years to do something about? Why did it take you so long? The PRESIDENT: Senator Carr! Senator BIRMINGHAM: It was a system which ensured that the handful of dodgy providers were like bees to a honeypot. Senator Carr, Mr President, may well want to throw questions across the table. The real question is: why was Labor so inept in establishing this scheme? Senator Kim Carr: Why don't you do something to fix it? Senator BIRMINGHAM: Why did Labor establish a scheme that, frankly, looks every bit as bad as the pink batts scheme in the way money is being wasted? Senator Kim Carr: Why don’t you fix it then? Senator BIRMINGHAM: Why is Labor being so neglectful in terms of coming up with any ideas as to how to address this? This, of course, has been a serious problem which this government has taken seriously and enacted changes to fix. (Time expired)