Cassandra Fernando (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Three years ago the Liberals called free TAFE 'wasteful spending'. The Leader of the Liberal Party even promised to scrap it. Well, fast forward to today, and more than 725,000 Australians have enrolled in a free TAFE course. We know that our nation is facing critical skills shortages. From construction to nursing to care work, shortages are felt in every community. Whether it's training plumbers and electricians to build the houses our country is in desperate need of or training aged-care workers to support Australians who once supported us, Labor's free TAFE is saving students thousands of dollars while strengthening our workforce, and it has been working, with skills shortages dropping across our economy. In my electorate of Holt, I hear from constituents every single week about how free TAFE has unlocked doors they never thought possible.

As a proud TAFE graduate, I know firsthand that TAFE changes lives. That's why Labor didn't just defend free TAFE; we proudly made it permanent for more than 100,000 Australians each year. When we back education, we back Australia's future.

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