Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Chief Government Whip for his question. We have had cause in this parliament to reflect on the skills crisis that was brought to this country by the Liberal Party, particularly by the Leader of the Opposition and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, and it is contrasted with the Rudd Labor government getting on with the job, creating Skills Australia and delivering 20,000 new training places as part of 630,000 new training places.

I have from time to time remarked that the member for Goldstein, as the last minister responsible in this area, stood by as a spectator watching the skills crisis build and did absolutely nothing. I do need to add a fact to the public record that I was not aware of before. The member for Goldstein, the former Liberal government, the former ministers who are here, the Leader of the Opposition and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition did not do absolutely nothing. They did what the Liberal Party always do when they do not know what to do next: they advertised, spending more than $68 million of taxpayers’ funds on skills advertising. These people who now feign a great interest in cost pressures on working families were quite happy to rip $68 million out of their purses and wallets to fund advertising.

I am a woman who has done her best to control the plague of Work Choices mouse pads, the avalanche of pens—I have done my best—but I regret to inform the House that I have found some remnants of the skills advertising, what is left of the $68 million: a mug, and that is how they were treating the Australian community—as mugs.

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