Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome this opportunity to speak in the Australian parliament on apprenticeships and skills and to make one thing clear: when it comes to rebuilding our TAFE system, backing apprentices and setting Australia up for the future, Labor delivers. Every Australian deserves the chance to learn a trade, build a career and shape the future of our country. Apprentices are the backbone of our workforce, from the homes we live in to the infrastructure that connects us and to the industries that power our economy. Under Labor, apprentices are getting the support they need, not just to start but also to finish their training. We know times are tough and cost-of-living pressures are real.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 13:04 to 13:17

We know times are tough and cost-of-living pressures are real and that is why the Albanese Labor government is helping more Australians take up apprenticeships and stick with them, particularly in the housing and construction sector where the demand for skilled workers has never been greater. From 1 July 2025 we expanded the Key Apprenticeship Program to include a housing construction apprenticeship stream, offering up to $10,000 in incentive payments to eligible new apprentices, and already more than 4,700 have commenced in trades like plumbing, carpentry and electrical work. In the first month of the incentives for housing construction apprentices, 1,250 apprentices have signed up, and I am very pleased to advise the House that 475 of those were from my electorate of Newcastle. If ever you wanted to understand a community that prides itself on the benefits of a trades education, you need look no further than Newcastle. We have increased the living away from home allowance for the first time in 20 years and we have lifted the disability Australian apprenticeship wage support payments for the first time since 1998 because we want cost-of-living support to match the value of the work that apprentices do.

Across the country we partnered with states and territories to deliver $1.5 billion for over 500,000 free TAFE and VET places and we made free TAFE permanent, locking in 100,000 places every year from 2027 under the new free TAFE act of 2025. Already more than 650,000 Australians have enrolled in free TAFE and over 170,000 have completed a course, 48,000 of those in construction alone. That is 170,000 people saving thousands of dollars and setting themselves up for secure well-paid work.

In Newcastle we're seeing this investment transform our region. At TAFE NSW, on the Tighes Hill campus, Labor is investing or delivering a $60 million net zero manufacturing centre of excellence. It's a partnership between the Albanese and Minns Labor governments that links our clean energy goals with real training and real jobs. It's making sure local people—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 13:20 to 13:30

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