Amanda Vanstone (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I do not have direct advice on that but I can assure you, from the material that I have looked at, that of course we want to proceed as rapidly as we can with this initiative of the Australian technical colleges because we perceive the need for there to be more training. I only wish, Senator, that more people on the other side of this chamber took the interest that you do in training young Australians, and that we did not have people on the other side in the other chamber complaining about 13 Chinese welders. It is not because they are welders that they are complaining, it is because they are Chinese, and they are saying that Australians have been laid off in order to keep Chinese welders on. In fact, the Australians who were laid off were casual workers and the Chinese people who were brought in have desperately needed skills for a company that is one of the best training companies in Australia—one of the best. It trains lots of apprentices, has lots of traineeships and employs lots of Australians in Ballarat. (Time expired)