Mr SIMMONDS (Ryan) (11:21): It's a pleasure to rise and talk to this motion on skills and vocational training. I come from the electorate of Ryan, where we're very proud of our university. It is the best university in Queensland and, I think, Australia—the University of Queensland, which is ranked in the top 50 globally. What I don't get the chance to talk about as often is just how proud we are of our apprentices in Ryan as well—young apprentices and older, mature-aged apprentices who are having a go and getting a go under this government. I'm pleased that we are starting to see the national debate swing back from this idea that everybody must go to university to get ahead. I spoke to so many parents throughout the election campaign who have seen their son or daughter get an apprenticeship and who have really gotten ahead. That's what I want to encourage in my electorate of Ryan. Isn't it ironic then that Labor would bring forward this motion so that we can all discuss a mess which is very much of their own making—but we're pretty used to cleaning up Labor's messes on this side of the chamber. Let's take a little bit of a step back in time to the decline of apprenticeships in Australia. It was the time of the Kevin Rudd-Julia Gillard-Kevin Rudd government. In 2012-13, Australia experienced the greatest fall in apprenticeship numbers on record—the greatest fall on record—a staggering decrease of 85,000 apprenticeships. In Queensland alone apprenticeship numbers fell by almost 17,000 in that year. What an appalling record for Labor to stand up and try to defend here in this place. My colleague the member for Forde quite rightly pointed out that it's not just about who was Prime Minister at the time, being a Labor Prime Minister; it is about who was sitting around the cabinet table. Who helped preside over this staggering decrease in apprenticeships? Who was there at the briefings and who signed off on some of the worse cabinet decisions in history when it came to apprentices and young Australians? Well, of course, it was the now Leader of the Opposition, Anthony Albanese. Tanya Plibersek was there as well and Senator Wong. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Rob Mitchell ): The member for Ryan will refer to members by their correct titles. Mr SIMMONDS: Quite right you are, Mr Deputy Speaker. It was the member for Cooper herself, who was leader of the ACTU at the time. Where were her campaigns? Where were the ACTU with the placards and the now member for Cooper standing out the front protesting the Rudd-Gillard government policies that had led to the largest decline in apprenticeships in this nation's history? Not to be seen. There was silence from the ACTU at the time. So to come into this place now with this motion and try to lecture the government on apprenticeships is galling indeed. Indeed, the Leader of the Opposition, when he was Deputy Prime Minister, helped cut over $240 million out of apprenticeships in a single year. Over two years, these same architects in the then Labor government, now sitting on the Labor opposition benches, cut $1.2 billion from employer incentives. They cut incentives for employers to take on apprenticeships. They cut incentives for Australians to take on these young people to give them a skill. We wish we were surprised by this hypocrisy, but we are not. When you can't manage money and an economy, as Labor can't, things have to go. Under the previous Labor government, what went was funding for apprenticeships, just as they couldn't fund the PBS at the time due to fiscal circumstances. On this side of the chamber, we can manage an economy. We can manage money, and that is why you are seeing us invest heavily to turn around those numbers and clean up Labor's mess. We're working to deliver quality apprenticeships that help to train apprentices on the skills they need today and the skills they need in the future. We've made available up to $1.5 billion in the Skilling Australians Fund over five years to help create thousands of extra apprenticeships. In the April budget, we announced we are investing $525 million in restoring incentives and promoting vocational learning. We've introduced the Youth Jobs PaTH program to incentivise employers to give young Australians experience in the workplace. Unfortunately, Labor want to abandon that very program. We can manage money, we can manage an economy and because of that we'll invest more in apprenticeships. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The time for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next day of sitting.