- Published:
- Wednesday 3 April 2019
The Morrison minority government has issued its latest in a long list of blows for skills and training by cutting another $649 million from the sector.
The smoke and mirrors game being played by the Liberals to sell this budget as good for the sector is disgraceful. The bottom line is that they can’t be believed or trusted because once you dig below the surface all you find is more budget cuts.
It is also now clear that the Liberals are completely failing at their plan to support apprentices and trainees by their most recent cuts.
Not only are the Liberals not giving us our fair share of infrastructure funding, they’re also cutting training for the workers to build them.
Showcasing their disregard for Victoria, the Liberals have also moved funding previously set aside for Victoria to plug other blackholes in their budget.
This builds on the Abbott/Turnbull/Morrison governments’ previous initiatives to rip more than $3 billion from TAFE, training and apprenticeships across the country, as well as $2 billion from Australia’s universities.
The budget released last night by the Liberals have failed to reverse their cuts to Victorian universities. This is further evidence of their inability to listen to universities and the communities they serve.
The increased uncertainty in federal funding has undermined the Victorian vocational and higher education sectors, making it difficult for organisations to plan for their future.
In stark contrast, the Andrews Labor Government has invested an additional $644 million in TAFE to address skills shortages.
We have successfully introduced Free TAFE initiatives for 30 priority TAFE courses and 20 pre-apprenticeship courses.
On top of this investment, the $220 million Building Better TAFEs Fund is seeing facilities and campuses rebuilt around Victoria, making sure that every community has a great local TAFE.
Not only are we investing in the projects and reforms our state needs, we’re also investing in the people we need to deliver them.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Training and Skills Gayle Tierney
“This budget is a complete failure for universities, TAFEs and the entire skills and training sector.”
“While the Morrison minority government is attempting to hoodwink Victorians, we shouldn’t be fooled - once you scratch the surface what you discover is that all the Liberals are doing is slashing funding and cutting targets.”
“The budget is completely silent on TAFE and we won’t remain silent while the Liberals try and take a knife to the sector. We will keep fighting every single day for the best deal for Victoria.”