Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Hansard source

The government's economic recovery plan, described by the OECD as key to saving jobs, will continue to create employment opportunities in Australia and also to secure Australia's economic and labour market future. As we enter the next phase of COVID-19—because we know there is a phase and we need to come out of it—we have our $74 billion JobMaker plan. That is, of course, putting in place major supports for employers and the Australian workplace. As the minister for skills, I'd like to highlight the government's strong focus on supporting apprentices and trainees throughout Australia. Our Supporting Apprentices and Trainees wage subsidy has now seen over 123,000 apprentices kept on since COVID-19 commenced, and Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements has now supported over 100,000 new commencements.