Ms KEARNEY (Cooper) (10:45): I'm very pleased to rise today to move this motion. A little while ago, I sat in a rail yard with about 30 maintenance workers in a regional town. I asked them about what concerned them the most. They told me it was privatisation and the lack of apprenticeships. The serious issue of privatisation aside for the purposes of today, they told me that once they would have had 10 apprentices working with them in that rail yard, and today they have none—not one. Yet I also heard from a peak industry body last week that one manufacturer could employ a thousand diesel mechanics tomorrow if they were available. More than six years of a Liberal government has left Australia facing a crisis in skills and vocational training. I know the Morrison government will say, 'Oh, it's all the states' fault,' but let's start with the fact that they have cut $3.6 billion from the vocational education sector, and we'll see where the fault lies. Despite being a party who love to say, 'If you have a go, you'll get a go,' they're failing to provide for the VET training sector an investment that would actually mean people have the wherewithal to have a go. The number of Australians doing an apprenticeship or traineeship is lower today than it was a decade ago. Funding cuts are resulting in reduced services, worsening student outcomes and reduction in staffing levels, and it's leaving industry high and dry. The number of people completing their apprenticeships or traineeships is the lowest it's been since 2001, under John Howard. More people are withdrawing from apprenticeships and traineeships than actually completing their training. The Liberals' answer to the crisis is a $525 million skills package of which only $54.5 million is actually new money. The government are so arrogant and so out of touch with Australia that they believe a $54 million increase in funding to the VET sector will fix the deep-lying systemic issues it is suffering from. The reality is that TAFE and vocational education in Australia are at breaking point. This is no fault, of course, of the wonderful and passionate VET educators I have the pleasure of meeting and working with on a regular basis. Our public provider, TAFE, is suffering terribly. Successive Liberal governments have shown clearly that they have no commitment to our public provider, which plays a vital role in our communities. TAFEs are struggling to keep their doors open. Teachers have been laid off. Capital upgrades are nearly impossible. They shouldn't have to fear the next wave of federal funding cuts. A system that is screaming out for reform will not be fixed by policy funding tweaks around the edges. The effects of the government's cuts don't stop at the individual level; they are having a wide-ranging effect on our economy. While the Liberals merrily decimate the VET system, we are seeing high youth unemployment and massive skills shortages. These things should never exist at all, even separately, but the fact that they exist at the same time in the same economy in the same society is an indictment. Youth unemployment currently sits at about 12 per cent, more than double the national average. In some areas of the country it sits above 25 per cent. This government talks about jobs, growth and innovation, and I meet people every day who are struggling to find work and would love a chance to get ahead, to get some experience and to get into a course that will lead them into decent, meaningful work. What does this government give those young people? Funding cuts and a $4-an-hour internship at a car wash. Youth Jobs PaTH is a shocking program with dismal results. Just imagine if the money invested in that were invested in real skills and qualifications. This government simply doesn't get it. All you need to do is talk to the sector, talk to the educators on the ground, talk to the students, talk to young people who can't get work and to older people who find themselves out of work and who need to skill up. The business community, unions and the not-for-profit sector are demanding reform and proper funding. They know that a strong and growing economy depends on a skilled Australian workforce. I'm not going to stand here and tell you that the solution is simple; it isn't. The solution requires thought. It requires genuine reform, a package that overhauls the sector and that properly funds the vocational education and training providers to deliver the services their students need. It needs a strategy—something this government is incapable of delivering. This is a solution that Australia needs right now. Our economy needs it, young people who require decent jobs need it and those working in industries that are going through transition need it. We need a TAFE and vocational education sector that delivers for all Australians, and this government is failing to deliver it. I move the motion relating to skills and vocational training in the terms in which it appears on the Notice Paper: That this House: (1) notes that: (a) more than 6 years of Liberal government has left Australia facing a crisis in skills and vocational training; and (b) under this Government: (i) more than 150,000 traineeships and apprenticeships have been lost; (ii) $3 billion has been slashed from TAFE and training; and (iii) 75 per cent of businesses are struggling to find qualified Australians to fill jobs; and (2) further notes that: (a) the Coalition’s answer to the ongoing demise of the VET sector is a $525 million skills package, yet Senate estimates confirmed that only $54.5 million of this is new funding for the sector; (b) the business community, unions and the not-for-profit sector are demanding reform and real funding—they know that a strong and growing economy depends on a skilled Australian workforce; and (c) with youth unemployment stuck at more than double the national average, young people need a decent skills sector that leads to good, secure and well paid jobs. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Rob Mitchell ): Is the motion seconded? Ms Ryan: I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.