Susan Lamb (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak to the importance of a fair and effective VET sector—a sector with sufficient checks and balances and a sector that strikes the right balance between public and private institutions. I concur with the member for Cowan's view that not every Australian needs to complete tertiary studies. Indeed, such an expectation is likely to be counterproductive, placing undue pressure on many young Australians. What I strongly believe and what I do expect is that our educational institutions provide value for money and facilitate a well-trained workforce. Unfortunately, though, many VET institutions, including some unscrupulous private providers, have failed to meet this basic threshold. In fact, it is fair to say that the system has fallen into crisis under the Liberals' watch.

I will return to the Liberals' maladministration shortly, but before I do I would like to talk about my electorate of Longman and what a reliable, fair and quality VET sector means for the constituents of Longman. The National Centre for Vocational Education Research's most recent data reported that the number of VET students in the Longman region was 10,203. The ABS data shows that, at 17.1 per cent of those student, technicians and trade workers represent the highest occupational category. For these reasons, access to a quality and affordable VET sector is just crucial to my electorate.

While Labor supports these bills in principle, it really is a case of too little, too late. This government talks about transparency, but only after thousands of students have accrued significant debt for courses with little hope of leading to a job. The government recognises a need for reform that they should have acted on sooner. Yes, delayed action is better than inaction, but we should not offer unqualified support for these bills simply because they decided to act.

I previously mentioned the maladministration that characterises the Liberals' approach to the VET sector. Over the last three years the Liberals have shown they simply do not care about the sector, including TAFE. It has taken three years for this government to recognise the systemic problems within the sector. Although, I might add, these issues were not originally systemic, they were caused by the government's unfair and almost arbitrary funding cuts.

Why have there been such delays? How did they justify these cuts to a sector that is already struggling for funding? The reality really is: they did not need to justify anything, because you do not justify action when you just do not care about the issue.

Without doubt, reform of the sector is essential. Labor understands this, and that is why the government have essentially copied Labor's policies. If only they had acted sooner so billions could have been invested in apprenticeships and TAFE—

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