Senator McGRATH (Queensland—Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) (16:24): I seek leave to make a short statement. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Leave is granted for one minute. Senator McGRATH: It is the responsibility of the states and territories to fund TAFE and invest in TAFE facilities. The coalition government is leading the way with the Skilling Australians Fund. We've put $1.5 billion on the table for the states to invest in areas of need for skills training. To date, five states and territories have signed up. Each year the coalition government invests a further $1.5 billion under a special purpose payment to the states, effectively for them to use to support the vocational education and training sector. We want to see the states increasing their funding in vocational education and training, investing in apprentices and trainees, and helping us to deliver up to 300,000 new apprentices during the five-year program. Question agreed to.