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

When we left office there were over 415,000 apprentices and trainees in the system. Today, sadly, there are 100,000-plus fewer. Shame! This is in a time when housing affordability is killing us. When we were in office, we built on average 200,000 homes a year. We did that year in, year out. Today, under Labor, we are averaging around 170,000. Labor have ambitious housing targets. The Housing Industry Association suggests that, in order for Labor to hit their targets, they've got to average around 255,000 homes, year in, year out. We just do not have the skills to meet those targets, and we are not training workers to have them. This government is turning its back on the skilled workforce that we need for the future.

Immigration numbers are through the roof. People are coming to the country, but we're not converting them to the skills that we need to meet the pipeline of infrastructure into the future. We've got nowhere for them to live. Housing rates mean our kids are going without. Housing affordability is becoming more and more of a challenge. The only way we're going to turn this around is to work with small business, and it's our coalition that is the friend of small business.

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