House debates Questions without Notice

Tertiary Education and Training

Monday, 26 October 2026 House of Representatives

Andrew Giles

Andrew Giles Scullin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Skills and Training

2:56 pm

including in the agricultural sector, Minister Collins. It was great to see TasTAFE's freer-farm facility on Friday during our visit. It is a TAFE that's also a working farm. It's nation leading. With free TAFE, our government is backing more Tasmanians to get the skills they need to grow that critical pipeline of workers that Australia needs for local jobs in the agricultural sector.

Just up the road, at TasTAFE's Burnie campus, the member for Braddon and I were joined by my Tasmanian counterpart, Minister Ellis, as well as my good friend Senator Dolega, to open brand-new student residences on campus. They are jointly funded by both governments, part of the Clean Energy TAFE Centre of Excellence, so that the next generation of TAFE students and apprentices—like Zeke and Luke, who we met on Friday—can get the training they need without worrying about finding a place to stay, breaking down yet another barrier that has held back too many regional learners. Luke's a first-year carpentry apprentice. He's one of the thousands of Australians receiving our $10,000 incentive through the Key Apprenticeship Program, helping him not just to start but to finish his trade. We spoke about how this program is showing our government's respect for that trade, and he told me how he'd spent his first payment already—on tools, of course!

From Burnie to Broome, and stretching right across the country, our government's investments are helping Australians like Luke and Zeke get skills, qualifications and the confidence, too, that they need to succeed. That's what this government's approach to skills and training is all about—creating opportunities, strengthening communities and building Australia's future workforce through free TAFE, the Key Apprenticeship Program and so much more.

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