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

Although Senator Watt continues to pursue a hypothetical line of questioning, I will say that many on the crossbench engage constructively on these issues. Many on the crossbench want to explore policy options to work with the government to see what we can do to rebuild the system in vocational education from the failings of those opposite—from the budget decisions of 2012; from the poor design of the VET FEE-HELP scheme. We've welcomed, on a range of fronts, cooperation from the crossbench, and we'll continue to welcome cooperation from the crossbench. We would welcome cooperation from the Labor Party, if ever you were willing to come to the table. But we won't be holding our breath, because your track record shows time and time again that you will play politics first and put policy second. That's why we are happy to keep working for a business tax regime that creates incentive to invest and creates incentive to employ more apprenticeships and traineeships by being a more competitive business tax regime into the future.