James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business. Will the minister outline to the House how the Morrison government's plan for jobs is supporting Australia's skilled workforce through critical investment in training and apprenticeship programs?

Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. Tonight the government will deliver one of the most significant budgets in modern history. It will chart the way forward for us out of the COVID crisis, the COVID pandemic, in which we now find ourselves. It's clear the impact of this pandemic is far greater than anything that we have experienced in modern times. But tonight the budget will be all about jobs—jobs now and jobs for the future. It's geared towards backing businesses to grow and to create the jobs that are needed, including through the $1.5 billion Modern Manufacturing Strategy.

We are determined to make sure that we are building the jobs of the future, that we are creating the skills pipeline needed not just for our manufacturers but for all industry. From the start of this crisis, we have been supporting apprentices and trainees to make sure that they stay in work and that they can continue to access the training they need. Earlier this year we announced the Supporting Apprentices and Trainees wage subsidy. That measure provided support to up to 180,000 apprentices and trainees across 90,000 businesses. It's an essential support to keep young Australians in jobs and it's ensuring that we do have the skilled workers that we need for the recovery.

Just this weekend we announced a further measure to support apprenticeships, one that is going to build on our earlier announcements. We are providing an additional $1.2 billion to support 100,000 new apprenticeship commencements. We announced this on the weekend and, from yesterday, we are already taking action and delivering. That's pretty fast, I've got to say. Businesses taking on an apprentice or a trainee will be eligible for a new wage subsidy, regardless of their geographic location, occupation, industry or business size. This is going to provide some very viable career options to our young people, and particularly to those students who, in 2020, are in their final year of school and are facing an unprecedented disruption to their learning. So, for those young people there is a viable career alternative, through a vocational education pathway. This government is delivering now to make sure we have the skills pipeline that we need for the jobs of today, tomorrow and the future.