Brett Raguse (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. Will the 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 his question. Of course, responsible economic commentators are all talking about the skills crisis that this nation is going through and its pressure on inflation. I refer particularly to the Australian Industry Group-Deloitte national CEO survey, which was released in April. That estimates that as many as a quarter of a million full-time employees are necessary to satisfy current skill needs. It also found that current skills shortages are severely impeding Australia’s innovation performance. The survey found that almost 70 per cent of the firms involved claimed that skills shortages had impacted on their business over the past year. This is CEOs telling us what is impacting on their business today.

Of course, we know this is a crisis that has not grown up overnight. The Reserve Bank has produced more than 20 warnings about the skills crisis and its impact on inflation. These warnings went unheeded by the former government. Indeed, the member for Goldstein, who at that stage was responsible for vocational education and training, made the stunning admission:

... 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.

That level of lack of understanding and concern about the skills crisis and its upwards pressure on inflation is shared by the opposition generally. They do not know anything about inflation any more, apparently. We have contradictory statements every day. On one day, the Leader of the Opposition will come out and say, ‘There’s no case for budget cuts because there’s no inflation problem. It’s a charade.’ Then the shadow Treasurer will come out and say that there is a case for budget cuts. Then the Deputy Leader of the Opposition will come out and say that she is concerned about wages inflation, but there is no analysis from the opposition, let alone solutions, about the truly inflationary impacts that their policies left on this nation. There is no greater inflationary impact than the current skills crisis.

Mr Speaker, I think we should note that, when it comes to the current skills crisis, the current Leader of the Opposition and the current Deputy Leader of the Opposition bear unique personal responsibility—having been the last two ministers for education in this country—for the generation of this skills crisis because they did not invest in education and training. We have been treated today to an unusual press conference by the former Treasurer, who is floating around like Banquo’s ghost.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a point of order, Mr Speaker: I do not recall the Deputy Prime Minister being asked for a comic act or to reflect on alternative policies.

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

There is no substance to the first part of the point of order but there is a little bit of substance to the second part. The Deputy Prime Minister will return to the question.

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

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Returning to the question: the press conference by the former Treasurer bears on the question of the skills crisis and investment in education and training because, when he gave this press conference, he said:

Now, I set up the Higher Education Endowment Fund, which would be investing that money to build world-class education.

Here is the former Treasurer taking personal credit for the only major education initiative of the Howard government in its last term—nothing to do with the Leader of the Opposition, nothing to do with the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, but out of the mouth of the former Treasurer, who is there rattling around like Banquo’s ghost, giving his commentary on the budget, whether or not anybody is interested in it. Whilst their track record is one of indifference and neglect and their current contribution to the economic debate is inconsistent gibberish, day by day the government is getting on with the job of resolving the skills crisis. Amongst the important investments being made by the government, we are investing in 450,000 new training places, the first 20,000 of which were available in April. We are delighted by the interest of registered training organisations in the delivery of these places. Already with these training places students are enrolled in areas of skill shortage. Whilst the places go right across the skill shortage spectrum—including mining, construction and other areas—I think it will be of interest to working families who are concerned about getting aged care for their elderly relatives and child care for their children that amongst the skill shortage areas that have had good take-up are childcare and aged-care packages. That means we will have new workforce in our aged-care centres and childcare centres, which desperately need them.

These are the kinds of interventions which were not made by the previous government, which buried its head in the sand when it came to the skills crisis—did absolutely nothing, left a legacy of the highest inflation rate for 16 years—because it never understood the need to invest in future skills training for Australians.