Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Skills and Training) Share this | Hansard source

If we want to understand the depth of the Australian skills crisis, imagine trying to build a house, but before the first brick can be laid, before a single frame goes up, you need people. You need skilled people. You need builders, electricians, plumbers, tilers, carpenters, glaziers and roofers. According to the Housing Industry Association of Australia, we're short 83,000 construction tradies. But a house doesn't just sit on an island; it sits on a street. To reach that house, you first need to lay the road, along with the pipes, the power lines, the water and the telecommunications. The Civil Contractors Federation has reported on an ongoing shortage around 197,000 public infrastructure workers, and to design those roads and bridges, and to plan the delivery and infrastructure our nation relies on, you need engineers. By 2040 Australia is on track to be short 200 thousand engineers. From the ground up, from rubble to the skyline, the skill shortage is biting hard, and it's biting under Labor.

When the coalition left office there were 428,000 apprentices and trainees across the country. Today, that number has plummeted by 107,000. Every shortage adds to cost and to delays, and puts the dream of homeownership further out of reach. It's time to rebuild our apprenticeship pipeline, back our tradies and give young Australians the chance to build our future—a future that they deserve.

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