Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

As I was saying, the trade training college offers a program in built environment and design, covering residential construction, communication and building design. They deliver training in construction, automotive mechanics, electrotechnology, retail cosmetics, plumbing and beauty services. These are programs which students can directly articulate into further education, higher education and employment, and they prepare well-rounded graduates who have not been plunged through enormous class sizes or online webinars.

I think of Joshua Skogvold, who was named the 2022 Student of the Year. Josh completed his Certificate II in Electrotechnology whilst he was completing year 12 at Siena College. He is someone who has not only completed his secondary education but now has a career start as an electrical apprentice. Blaise, a 2022 graduate, says of his experience: 'I made great friends with the trainer and students and also got an apprenticeship with the help of my trainer. My work placement out with an employer also really helped as it gave me heaps of knowledge in the automotive industry.' Once again, there's a graduate who is engaged in formal training and equipped for meaningful employment. Shellie, one of the mums who's son Matthew also completed training at the centre, said: 'My husband and I are so grateful for the opportunities this year at Sunshine Coast Technical Trade Training Centre gave Matthew and know that it has set him up for his future. He had amazing support and guidance.'

The Sunshine Coast Technical Trade Training Centre is a phenomenal example of what can be achieved when industry and education partner together to engage and equip young people for a trades based career. It's not a university. It's not a school. It's not a TAFE. This is a collaborative industry-centred training facility which is changing young peoples' lives. That's why I was so disappointed—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 17:23 to 17:44

That is why I was so disappointed to see very little mention of industry-led and collaborative community-based training providers. Don't get me wrong: I absolutely support a strong and well-funded TAFE system. In fact, I'm a product of the TAFE system. The member for Chisholm was talking earlier about Holmesglen College of TAFE. That's where I went to TAFE. That's where I did the schooling component of my carpentry apprenticeship. I am a huge supporter of TAFE. TAFE is incredibly important. Often on this side of the House we get criticised as being unfriendly towards TAFE. But as someone who has actually been through the TAFE system and done an apprenticeship, I wonder how many of those opposite have actually gone through an apprenticeship.

Gone are the days of Labor of old, when you could say absolutely that the Labor Party was full of blue-collar workers. But that is no longer the case, unfortunately. The minister has this emphasis on TAFE, in my view incorrectly. It's not putting TAFE at the centre of our education system. It's not putting university at the centre of our education sector. It's not putting private providers at the centre. The centre of our education has got to be our students. Students must be the focus. If you go and enrol in a cert IV in training and assessment right now, that is what our vocational trainers and assessors are taught, because if we want a skilled workforce in the trades based sector then graduate outcome and employability must be the No. 1 focus.

One of the common criticisms I get and have heard over successive governments, whether it was me as a builder or when talking to colleagues who are solicitors, is that our current education system is not training people for the jobs of today or the future. When I've gone and spoken to groups, particularly university students who are just about to graduate, I congratulate them and say: 'Well done! You've worked hard for four years, and at the end of your four years you're going to get this little piece of paper, and this little piece of paper is what I call your licence to learn. After four hard years of slog, blood, sweat and tears at university, you can now take that piece of paper to an employer and say, Please can you now teach me; I have a licence to learn.'

That is what a degree gives you, and I can say that now, as someone who's been through the trades sector and as someone who's done a law degree. What you learn at law school and what you do as a practising lawyer are poles apart. That's what I hear in just about every other industry as well. So, we have to get a lot smarter in this country about how we teach our young people, particularly in the vocational education and training sector.

I'm calling on this government to change their language and change their approach. When Labor were in power in the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years, we had a fundamental change to the way vocational education and training was viewed, because every young person was encouraged to go to university. But do you know what? Not every young person is destined to go to university. Not every young person should go to university. The old Labor government, in the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years, particularly under Prime Minister Gillard, established this sort of culture that if you wanted to be someone in life you needed to go to university, you needed to get a higher education. As a parent, I sucked that up. I fell for it. I was a tradesman back then, and I wanted my kids to do better—so called—than I did. I wanted them to go to university. It's really funny. If you look at carpenters, electricians and plumbers now, they are laughing their heads off about what they earn compared to what lawyers earn. When I used to go to Master Builders nights in my days as a builder, you'd pull up at a local pub and the car yard would be full of utes and vans, and there might be one or two Mercedes from the lawyers coming to teach them. Then 15 or 20 years later, it was an absolute complete swap; it's the tradies that are now driving the Mercedes-Benzes and the lawyers that are driving the utes.

The fact is that we had this cultural shift in this country which denigrated—and I don't use that term lightly—trades. We denigrated trades. As someone who was in the trade, we denigrated trades. If you were a tradesman you were a second-class citizen. That was the story. That was the message that was being told, and it's fundamentally wrong. If you are a tradesman, the world is your oyster. The training that many trades receive in this country, particularly in years gone by, can take you just about anywhere in the world. There is a problem with that now; unfortunately we are not seeing the same sort of quality of trades coming through. I think there are a lot of reasons for that. But we have developed this culture, and what we are seeing is a lack of tradespeople now as a result. If your toilet gets blocked, ring a plumber. Try to get a carpenter. Try to get a bricklayer these days. There is an absolute dearth of trades, and that is because of the cultural shift that happened under that Labor government.

Let me tell you about when we were in government. The Liberals and Nationals cleaned up Labor's mess when it comes to vocational education. Since my first day in this role, I have bemoaned the fact that tradespeople were really denigrated by that lot over on the other side. This has impacted productivity, the availability of a skilled workforce, as I said, and industries that rely on skilled workers, including manufacturing, construction and technology. I'm pleased to have been part of a coalition government which invested record amounts into the Australian skills system, totalling $13 billion since 2020 alone.

Honourable members interjecting—

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