Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Vocational and Technical Education. Is the minister aware that 39 Australian employees have been sacked from the Ballarat manufacturing company Maxi-TRANS while that same company has retained 25 employees imported from China on temporary skilled migration visas? Isn’t this the same company that last year put on hold eight Australian apprenticeships after it imported welders from China? Minister, why have these Australians living in my electorate, who were employed without sick leave, annual leave, holiday loading or any long-term employment contracts, now lost their jobs while imported workers have been given greater job security? Is this what the minister meant when he said in this place last year:

So I would invite the member for Ballarat to celebrate the fact that a local business is investing in itself and the local region and creating more job opportunities for more young people around Ballarat.

Yippee!

Gary Hardgrave (Moreton, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Ballarat for her question. It has been 266 days since the Australian Labor Party asked a question of me in this place about training, about skills or about apprenticeships. It was on 16 August last year, which was the 28th anniversary of the death of Elvis, for the people who want to know.

This government has committed more money to the business of training apprentices than anybody else in history. The results are amazing: 397,800 new apprentices in training—a 146 per cent increase, or an extra 161,000 new apprentices since 1996; 139,600 new apprenticeship completions in this last year—a 314 per cent increase since 1996, or an extra 33,700 completions; 168,200 commencements in trade and related occupations—a 33 per cent increase—

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The member for Ballarat has asked a serious question about job losses in her electorate.

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Grayndler will come to his point of order.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister be drawn back to the question, on relevance, and answer about these specific job losses—

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Grayndler will resume his seat. The minister is relevant.

Gary Hardgrave (Moreton, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My point is: what is the member for Ballarat really on about here? In the last 10 years there has been a 286 per cent increase in the number of people in training in Ballarat—almost 4,000 people. In the case of MaxiTRANS, the member for Ballarat has to account to the people of her electorate as to why she is attacking a company that employs a total of 577 Australians—

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was attacking you for failing—

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Ballarat has asked her question

Gary Hardgrave (Moreton, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

including 70 professionals and 150 tradespeople. In the last few years MaxiTRANS has taken on Australian graduates as well as 68 new apprentices. It has also provided leadership training to its employees through the Ballarat TAFE and supported them in a number of other courses. At the end of the day, this company is doing its job in respect of training people. The issue of importing people from other countries is a separate matter. The member for Ballarat, who was been instructed by the AMWU to get up today and put forward this question, has decided to try to link them together. The Australian government’s priority is the training of young Australians. The statistics that I have put on the record yet again today prove just how successfully our priorities are being executed.