Sharryn Jackson (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Education, for Employment and Workplace Relations and for Social Inclusion. Will the Deputy Prime Minister inform the House of the steps the government is taking to respond to the skills challenge and reduce inflationary pressures in the economy?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Hasluck for her question. Of course, she is a Western Australian in this place, and the first set of data I want to go to relates to Western Australia. The ABS data released yesterday shows that in Western Australia the wage price index for the private sector rose by 6.4 per cent for the year to December, well above the national average of 4.2 per cent. By industry, Australia-wide, the highest rates of increase in the wage price index over the year to the December quarter 2007 were in mining, an increase of 5.1 per cent, whereas wholesale trade saw the lowest increase, of 3.2 per cent. ABS average weekly earnings data released today tells the same story. There is continued strong growth in adult ordinary time earnings, by 4.7 per cent, in the year to November 2007, with large rises of 7.4 per cent in mining and 11.6 per cent in construction for the year to November 2007, and also large increases in property and business services and cultural and recreational services. Wage growth in full-time adult ordinary time earnings is highest in WA for the quarter.

All of these increases, of course, happened under the Liberal Party’s workplace relations system, Work Choices. It is no mystery, when we look at these figures, that wages growth is strongest in those industries and those parts of the country where skilled labour shortages are at their most acute. The Rudd Labor government knows that managing wage inflation is not about using Work Choices or Australian workplace agreements or individual statutory employment agreements of any nature to cut the pay and conditions for Australians who are most at risk at work. Rather, containing wage inflation is about having an enterprise based, decentralised workplace relations system, one of course that Labor is committed to. But it is also about tackling the underlying cause of this wage inflation, which is skills shortages and capacity constraints.

Unfortunately the Liberal Party engaged in 12 years of neglect of the skills agenda and allowed these skills shortages to become a critical problem. The lazy attitude of the Liberal Party was probably best summarised by the member for Goldstein, who was then the Minister for Vocational and Further Education, when he told an industry group last year:

… we’ve got a problem with skill shortage.

…            …            …

I mean we knew it was coming but it has arrived with a force.

…            …            …

And you know, it’s only going to get worse.

On tackling skills shortages in this country, the Liberal Party, like the member for Mayo, were out to lunch—not much verve being shown there, not much verve at all. Apparently it is okay for the Liberal Party to be out to lunch and for the member for Mayo to be out to lunch—

Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Deputy Leader of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order on relevance. The question clearly asked what the government is doing to meet the skills challenge and reduce inflationary pressures.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Prime Minister will address the question.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In order to describe what the government is doing, it is important to understand the dimension of the problem, and the problem has only become so acute because of 12 years of inaction, 12 years of being out to lunch on dealing with skills in this country. It is of no surprise to me that the member for Canning defends such conduct, defends everybody’s right to be out to lunch, with quotes like:

He’s—

the member for Mayo is—

exercising his right to lunch … with the time difference between Adelaide his ruminations might be a little bit out of clock.

Mr Speaker, I can tell you what is out of clock here. What is out of clock here is the out-of-touch, out-to-lunch Liberal Party. At least the member for Higgins comes to question time, even if he looks at seek.com.au for the entire duration!

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order on relevance. You had already asked the Deputy Prime Minister to come back to the point, and she did not. I would ask you to direct her to come to the question.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Prime Minister should not overly emphasise just one job but jobs in general.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the question of jobs in general, the Rudd Labor government is getting on with the job and we are getting on with the job of tackling the skills crisis in this country. We will do that by investing in 450,000 training places, with the first 20,000 of these training places to be delivered in April this year. Members in the House who have attended for question time, including the member for Mayo, might like to note that the choices about where these places go will be in those qualifications that are critical for our economy. We are of course going to be investing in a range of options for those who are seeking to upgrade their skills in order to change career. In that regard, people might want to note that, for those without a business background who are looking for a career change, the Mount Barker Campus of TAFE in Mayo offers an Advanced Diploma of Accounting, and, for those who seek to understand corporate governance, there is a Certificate IV in Business (Frontline Management).

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Deputy Prime Minister will bring her answer to a close.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am just trying to help in terms of overcoming that AWB scandal. I am just trying to assist. Whilst just trying to assist on the question of investment in skills, can I say it is—

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Deputy Leader has the call. Conclude the answer.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. It was a concerning look. It is never too late for anybody to upgrade their skills. It is not too late for this national government to be investing in skills. It is going to take time to overcome the skills crisis, but it is a vital part of our strategy to fight inflation and to build economic prosperity for this nation’s future.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The Deputy Prime Minister read every single word, including the ad libs, and I ask that she table the document from which she read every single word.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Was the Deputy Prime Minister reading from a document?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

From time to time. Certainly the ABS wages statistics—yes, I did read those.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Was the document confidential? If it is not confidential, the ABS data would have to be tabled.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The document from which I was reading has confidential material, of course. I did read the ABS statistics.