THE HON SUSSAN LEY MP
DEPUTY LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY, SKILLS AND TRAINING
SHADOW MINISTER FOR SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS
SHADOW MINISTER FOR WOMEN
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR FARRER

THE HON ANDREW HASTIE MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR DEFENCE
SHADOW MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY
SHADOW MINISTER FOR DEFENCE PERSONNEL
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR CANNING

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE

ANTHONY ALBANESE TOO SLOW TO PRIORITISE AUKUS SKILLS

Monday, 2 September 2024

Reports today indicate Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will announce a jobs and skills package for AUKUS in Western Australia this week.

Given analysts, think tanks, and the Government’s own experts have for over a year been warning skills shortages are the most significant hurdle for Australia to deliver AUKUS, the Prime Minister must outline what his plan is in full, and why it has taken him so long to prioritise action on AUKUS skills.

There is clear consensus across Australia’s defence and national security community that skilling Australians is fundamental for Australia’s national security.

According to the Government’s own analysis Australia will require over 75,000 additional electricians, construction managers, metal machinists and welders in the submarine feeder workforce by 2030, with approximately two-thirds needing vocational qualifications.

This once again brings into question the Prime Minister's decision to remove the Skills and Training Portfolio from Cabinet and his decision to award it to the worst performing minister in the Government, Andrew Giles.

If skilling Australians is critical to national security why has it been downgraded by Anthony Albanese?

The Coalition will go through any announcement in detail and will work constructively to deliver AUKUS but the Albanese Government’s record on skills fills no one with confidence.

Labor’s skills failures:

• There are fewer Australians being skilled under Labor – the official data makes clear there are 85,300 fewer apprentices and trainees in training since Labor took office, a loss of one in five. New training starts have dropped by 39 per cent.
• Labor has the wrong priorities on skills – it has been revealled that amid critical skills shortages in the construction sector, Labor put yoga instructors, dog handlers and martial artists above tradies on the nation’s draft priority skills list for migrants.
• Labor’s skills programs cannot be trusted and are poorly targeted – it has been revealled that Labor’s renewable energy workforce initiative, the $100 million New Energy Apprenticeships program, is so poorly targeted that aspiring piggery attendants are eligible for $10,000 payments.

While the Prime Minister is talking about skills in Western Australia he should answer how many of Labor’s 500,000 Fee Free TAFE courses have actually resulted in a real qualification being completed and delivered to a newly qualified worker.

Estimates of TAFE completions indicate the failure or non-completion rate could be as high as 55-60 per cent across these courses and some in the training sector have indicated some courses could have rates as high as 70-90 per cent non-completion. In Victoria just 1 per cent of those who registered for a free certificate IV in plumbing successfully completed their training.

The reality is almost all the gains the Coalition made in building up Australia’s skills pipeline has been squandered in just over two years.

Under Labor skills shortages have worsened, and we have lost one in five apprentices and trainees across the country–this is all adding to increasing inflation and prices.

Now the Prime Minister is again asking Western Australians to trust him with more promises about what he might do in the future.

How can anybody trust Anthony Albanese on skills when his track record is one of abject failure?

[ENDS]