Mr BARTLETT (7:35 PM) —It was no surprise yesterday to see the Leader of the Opposition, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and a former Leader of the Opposition using the appropriations debate to try to attract some attention. What was astonishing, however, was to see them all trying to use it to establish Labor's economic credentials to try and convince us and many on their own side that they had a story to tell here. This was a troika of Labor's economic flat earth society. We had the Leader of the Opposition trying to convince us that black was white by trying to explain away Labor's appalling record on interest rates. We had the deputy opposition leader trying to prove that black was white on the issue of skill shortages. We had the former opposition leader trying to do the same thing with regard to trade performance. I would like to have the time to address all of these, but on this occasion I will address the issue of skill shortages.

It seems that Labor members have read a couple of media stories about skill shortages and have suddenly decided that it is an area where they ought to show some interest. There are two distinct aspects to the whole area of skill shortage: the first is the demand side; the second is the supply side. On the demand side it is clear that there is a growing issue with a tightening labour market. The reason that there is a tightening labour market is simply that we have had several years of strong economic growth, strong jobs growth and a strong demand for labour. When that is the case, you start to develop a tight labour market. We have had 1.5 million jobs created—1.5 million more people in work—over the past nine years. There were 307,000 in the last year alone, and 55 per cent of those were full-time jobs. We have seen unemployment fall from 8.5 per cent in 1996 to 5.1 per cent now, and that is with an increased participation rate, up from 63.5 per cent to 64.1 per cent.

Labor's approach to the demand side of the skills shortage issue was simple: have a high level of unemployment and you do not have a skills shortage problem. Labor's approach was the recession that we had to have. This is not a satisfactory approach to the skills shortage problem. On this side of the House we believe in having more people in work, even if that does mean a tight labour market. Labor's approach to the demand side of the skills shortage is simply not acceptable at all.

The second aspect of the skills issue is on the supply side. This is an issue of equipping employees with the skills that employers require, particularly the skills that they require in young people taking their place in the labour market. Again, let us look at the facts. Under Labor, apprenticeships and traineeships fell to a 30-year low. Their obsession with university places caused them to basically ignore the training and employment needs of the 70 per cent who do not go to university. Their approach to training, tied up in their so-called Working Nation package, really was more about hiding the unemployed than about providing genuine training that would lead to job outcomes.

Compare that with what we have seen since 1996. In apprenticeships and traineeships we have seen an increase of some 250 per cent under this government, up from 157,000 when Labor left office to 395,500 in June last year. We have seen VET in Schools take off from 60,000 participants in 1996 to 185,000 just two years ago, including a 400 per cent increase in school based new apprenticeships. This year we have seen a record $2.1 billion in funding to the states and territories for their training programs, up by 48 per cent since 1996. Recently we have seen moves to establish 24 technical colleges to address some of these skills needs—described, might I say, by the Australian Industry Group in these terms:

This is from employers who know. Compare this with what we are seeing going on in the Labor states. In 2002 the Commonwealth government offered an extra 71,000 training places—rejected by the states. In New South Wales we have seen TAFE fees increase by 220 per cent. This is a great obstacle to young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, accessing the necessary training. The point is this: do not listen to Labor's rhetoric; don't listen to what they say in opposition. Look at what they did when they were in government. Look at what the state governments are now doing. The contrast could not be clearer. (Time expired)