The Hon Sussan Ley MP
Deputy Leader of The Opposition
Shadow Minister for Industry, Skills and Training
Shadow Minister for Small and Family Business
Shadow Minister For Women
Federal Member For Farrer
Labor’s ‘Free TAFE’ Bill has passed the House of Representatives but it is a lie to say the Bill makes TAFE ‘free’ or ‘Free TAFE permanent’.
Labor is misleading Australians on ‘Free TAFE’.
The Coalition opposes Labor’s Free TAFE Bill because:
- It is opposed by those closest to the skills crisis including small business and Australia’s builders and construction sector
- The Government has not reviewed Free TAFE before committing the taxpayer to permanently funding it
- Labor continue to hide the drop out rate of Free TAFE with the Minister for Skills misleading the Parliament over Free TAFE’s completion rates
- The Bill does not guarantee a single dollar to fund a single course, and does not even guarantee Free TAFE will be free
The Business Council of Australia, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia, Master Builders Australia, and the Housing Industry Association all oppose Labor’s Free TAFE legislation.
Free TAFE has not increased the number of Australians taking up skills and training. In fact there are fewer Australians being skilled under Labor with over 80,300 fewer apprentices and trainees in our training pipeline since Labor took office – a loss of one in five. We also have fewer Construction Trade Apprentices in-training with a 26 per cent drop of new starts.
Instead skills shortages have worsened since the Albanese Government took office and remain higher today than under the Coalition.