Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

In a sense, this can be viewed as the third tranche of education reforms. This government did an awful lot in the last few years to drive reform of schooling through the My School website, through NAPLAN and through a national curriculum. We have also invested heavily in our universities to drive reform in universities and open them up to more students where, as a result, we have seen record increases in participation—150,000 more people at university studying, getting high graduate skills to allow them to go into the workforce as graduates. This is the third leg of those reforms. Making sure that our vocational education and training sector is also reformed produces quality outcomes for people and ensures that we have the trades and other technical skills in the economy. We value those skills, just like we value a university education, and this is about making sure that we have the best possible vocational education— (Time expired)