Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

Over the last five years, the federal government has provided some $771 million to the South Australian government to support vocational education and training. In that time, however, senators would be shocked to know that the South Australian government has decreased its investment in vocational education and training from what was $516 million in 2012 to $425 million in 2016. We see there the clear trajectory of a state government who, of course—we in this chamber know—can't keep the lights on. Those who have followed the welfare of the most vulnerable in South Australia would know they can't manage to keep vulnerable children safe, or disabled South Australians safe. They certainly can't manage to grow the economy or create jobs. And now it is clear they cannot even manage to run a training system in South Australia, they have cut their funding, they've chopped and changed their policies, and they've now left hundreds or thousands of students stranded with qualifications for which they received inadequate training.