The number of apprenticeships in the Page electorate has fallen by 31.5 per cent in two years, according to Federal Department of Education figures.
Federal Labor candidate for Page Janelle Saffin said the drop in numbers equated to 666 apprenticeships, with the figures replicated across Australia.
Ms Saffin said the Deparment’s figures showed that 130,000 apprenticeships had been lost across the country as a result of the Coalition government’s policies.
The number of apprenticeships in Page dropped from 2,117 at 31 December 2013, to just 1,451 by 31 December 2015.
‘The retreat from supporting apprentices and the vocational education and training sector started with Mr Abbott and Mr Truss, and it continues with Mr Turnbull and Mr Joyce,” Ms Saffin said.
‘I am serious about investing in apprentices, skills and training in Page.
“The Nationals have cut $2.75 billion from the skills portfolio, including $1 billion in cuts to apprentices by scrapping the Tools for Your Trade program and access and mentoring programs.
‘How can they talk ‘jobs and growth’ and then decimate apprenticeships and the VET sector?
‘It’s vital that we train and retrain our workforce to improve participation, productivity, and innovation. This is what will drive growth in our region.
‘Kevin Hogan and the Nationals have been missing in action on apprenticeships and jobs.”
Ms Saffin said Labor had a comprehensive set of policies to help apprentices, skills and training, including among other policy measures.
‘Only a Shorten Labor Government will deliver the support for apprentices and TAFE that local residents expect and a vocational education system that delivers a skilled workforce for the future,’ Ms Saffin said.
She said a Labor government guaranteed a nation-wide review that would ensure vocational educational was able to meet the training need of the nation.
She said an apprenticeship quota would be set on major federally-funded projects, and the Tools for your Trade program, which provides $3000 per apprentice.
A Labor government would pilot a program to help mature workers who had been retrenched to turn their extensive work experience into formal qualifications, with another program helping around 10,000 people get read for an apprenticeship.
More stories on the Federal Election
Greens’ Richmond campaign ‘people powered, not fossil fueled’
The record vote by the Greens in Saturday’s federal election in Richmond has encouraged candidate Dawn Walker Greens to keep the ‘Green’ momentum going across the northern rivers.
Thus Spake Mungo: The worm turned, the maggots squirmed
My fearless prediction is that the coalition will end up with between 76 to 78 seats in the House of Representatives, a thin but decisive majority. But this is not the way it was meant to be.
A hung parliament? It may be the best we can hope...
Nearly three years ago, on the eve of the last Federal election, this web site warned that a Tony Abbott-led Coalition government presented a grim outlook for clean energy and climate change, and we warned too that it could be even worse than most people feared.
Elliot, Hogan retain their north coast seats
Incumbent northern rivers MPs Kevin Hogan (Page, Nationals) and Justine Elliot (Richmond, Labor) have retained their seats after a knife-edge federal election result which could see a hung parliament.
A voting guide for dummies
Still haven't made your mind up who to vote for yet? Well, crawl out from whatever rock you've been hiding under and pay some fricking attention. It's really quite simple. Just match your ideology with one of these political parties and away you go.
National party electorates state wide, including Page, have seen unemployment increase ! The Sydney Morning Herald recently stated : The Sydney Morning Herald
Average unemployment rates may have stayed relatively stable but the gap between the haves and have-nots, in terms of jobs, is growing. In all federal National party seats in NSW unemployment has risen by 1.3 per cent on average since the Coalition came to power in September 2013 even though the state-wide unemployment rate has edged lower in that period.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/election-2016-how-unemployment-splits-on-party-lines-20160617-gpl98p.html#ixzz4D1fSGBTU
Thanks for nothing Kevin Hogan.
Good on the Labor Party for recognizing that we need apprentices and that people need to be able to afford tools to do an apprenticeship. Kevin Hogan admitted on his website that apprenticeships are declining but his answer was to scrap the tools allowance and give them a HECS style loan. A loan is a major disincentive to undertake an apprenticeship. Why should young people who work full-time and study go into debt? Australia should support apprentices instead of importing tradespeople. These apprentices are our future. Much better to give a $3000 tool allowance to a young person working hard than to give a tax cut to a big corporation. It’s time to vote Kevin Hogan out and start generating employment and boosting our local economy. Put Hogan last.
666 apprenticeships lost in Page electorate!
Why is it the Satanists that always get burned?