The number of apprentices and trainees in our local area has dropped by 42 percent. There are 1,139 fewer apprentices today than there were in the electorate of Blaxland 5 years ago.
One of the reasons for this is the $3 billion in cuts to TAFE and apprenticeships by the Turnbull Government. This year they have cut a further $270 million from TAFE.
This has also led to a loss of 35 teaching and support staff jobs at Bankstown TAFE.
Funding for TAFE is lower than it was a decade ago, despite the fact that an increasing number of jobs require the skills taught at TAFE.
“In Bankstown unemployment is double the national average. At the same time as apprenticeship numbers have gone down the number of people from overseas on temporary work visas has gone up,” Mr Clare said.
There are now 1.6 million people from overseas who have temporary visas which give them work rights in Australia.
To turn around the drop in apprenticeship numbers a Shorten Labor Government will:
- scrap upfront fees for 100,000 TAFE students studying courses where we have a skills shortage, which will enable many local students to attend TAFE without incurring any fees;
- ensure that at least two thirds or 70 percent of all government funding for vocational education will go to TAFE; and
- ensure that at least one in every ten people employed to work on a Commonwealth infrastructure project is an Australian apprentice.
This will help create more jobs in our local area.
FRIDAY, 27 JULY 2018
MEDIA CONTACT: Jamie Wassef 02 9790 2466
