Scott Buchholz
Wright · Liberal Party · Australia
“Scotty, you've got to get rid of this bad government so that our business can survive.' The last one was: 'Scotty, it's like a perfect storm of despair for us—continued interest rate rises with more to come, government policy designed specifically to devalue the family home and crippled consumer confidence.”
“Yesterday, during question time, the Prime Minister was twice asked directly to guarantee that the housing market in Australia wouldn't tank, and twice he refused to do so. I rang a number of real estate agents in my electorate this morning, and I spoke with them. I'm going to record into Hansard what three of their comments were.”
“My electorate is predominantly agriculture; the largest contributor to GDP is agriculture. I live in an electorate where men and women who work on farms often get up before the sun gets up. Their faces are tanned, and their hands are cracked and blackened with earth and soil.”
“We proudly welcome every one of those families that choose to relocate to Wright purely because of the level of representation at federal government. There can be no other reason.”
“It would not surprise anyone within these rooms that, when I take a snapshot of these boards and bring them to the House, the cost of living is far and away the most predominant. I did, however, change my lists of issues that they could raise with me.”
“I also want to acknowledge young Hugh. Over dinner last night, Hugh told me that in his spare time after school he works with his brother who's a couple of years into his diesel mechanic trade apprenticeship. They go out harvesting, and he drives tractors, but he can only just see over the steering wheel.”
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“Never before, in the history of the Australian construction sector, have those numbers been met. But I tell you what they are good at. It takes a special type of incompetence to bring 1.2 million migrants into this country and, either intentionally or through some magic-pudding economics, just happen to leave off electricians, plumbers, roofers, plasterers and tilers—all the people that are on the skilled trades list. You think, 'Why don't they bring these people in to help with the construction sector? Why is it?' And then you think, 'Who runs their campaigns? What power do the unions have in ensuring that these people are not on the list of skills that we need to build the infrastructure required for the future?”
“When we left office, the Housing Industry Association's Simon Croft's data suggests that, on average, 200,000 houses a year were being constructed across the country. What does a simple Google search now reveal to you about the last reporting period of 12 months? Do you reckon housing construction numbers were up or down? Down again, to 170,000. But the government have got ambitious targets—ridiculously ambitious targets. In order for them to get from the average of where they are at the moment, from 170,000, just back to where we were, they would then have to start building houses at around 125,000 a year, to catch up. But they're not going to do that. To meet their own targets of 1.2 million houses into the future, they'd have to be averaging 255,000.”
“When we left government, there were 415,000 apprentices and trainees in the system. Today, just four years later, do you reckon there are more or fewer? There are over 100,000 fewer. Irrespective of the rhetoric that you hear from this government about all things being well and fine and dandy in the skills and training space, I can assure you: we are in a world of hurt. The skills shortages in this country are now at breaking point, and there's no solution coming from those on the other side. Just fathom that: 117,000 fewer apprentices and trainees today than when we left government. Then can you imagine what that transfers to and looks like in the housing construction sector?”
“In fact, they're having the opposite effect in some regard to the five per cent scheme, particularly, where they're actually pushing up housing prices. There's ample evidence out there to support that. When you look at the aspirant housing targets that Labor have set, you will see that, in order to meet them, they need to get to an average of 255,000 houses a year. Never in Australia's history has that average number been achieved. In the best year, housing completion rates were 225,000. These guys think they're going to get it to 255,000 without investing in the apprentices that we need for tomorrow.”
“So it is little wonder that, when you start to have a look at the housing completions, you see that they're tanking as well. When we left government, we were doing 200,000 houses a year. That's not a number that I bring to the house lightly. That's a number espoused by Simon Croft from the Housing Industry Association. Today, under Labor's watch, did that number in the last reporting period get to 200,000? No, they could not have, because they're not building the skills we need with the apprentices. They've dropped the ball on that. They actually delivered much fewer than 200,000. They delivered 170,000 houses last year. The reason we opposed the housing and the budgetary money to go to Labor was that those schemes are not working. They are not driving.”
“When I speak to the electors of Wright, they ask me: 'How do I get ahead? How do I build a house? How do I get my foot onto the home ownership ladder?' I say to them, 'The task that is in front of you is being made so much more difficult today under the government settings than what they have been in the past.' It's a really easy narrative to outline for them. They are quite surprised when I share with them why it is harder. I say to them: 'When we were last in government, we have 415,000 apprentices and trainees in the system. Today, under Labor, there's just over 100,000 fewer apprentices.' That is 100,000 fewer electricians, chippies, plumbers, sparkies, tilers, plasterers—every trade we need to build that house that they are aspiring to get into.”
“It was just having a bit of a camp on the couch and then not waking up the next day. It makes us all think about our own vulnerability. Footy season will be around soon, mate, and I won't have anyone to talk to about the fixtures and those bloody Broncos. Thanks for the smokes you used to give me every now and again. But, more importantly, thanks for the chats. I'll miss you, mate. I'll miss you. When it's my turn, I'll keep an eye out for you. Thanks, Luch. Federation Chamber adjourned at 17:37”
“Hey, Luch, it's Scotty. What did you go and do, mate? I left here last year with the intention that we'd see you again. It wasn't supposed to be this way, mate. I know you're up there with God in heaven, but jeez, mate, you've left a bit of a hole for us down here. Who's going to take your job? Who's going to look after us the way you looked after us? Your family have got the shits, mate. They're upset. I caught up with them the other day when they were here in the parliament. But you know what? The Speaker of the House put a good gig on for you. It was lovely to have your family there in the parliament where you used to work. It was a bit of a shock when I heard the news that you'd gone over up to heaven. It wasn't your time, but it would have been peaceful by all the accounts of it—no pain, no suffering.”
“We used to partner with small business to the tune of around $8,000 to help subsidise a skilled tradesperson, an apprentice or a trainee. Labor were at $4,000, and we got them up to $5,000, kicking and screaming. But the only way we're going to fix this skilled labour issue is to partner with small business, and everyone knows Labor hates small business. (Time expired)”
“Instead we have this inflationary pressure whereby the RBA was forced to push up interest rates the other day because the cost of housing is going up. The RBA's data the other day factored in 21.7 per cent in private sector demand. So we've got skills down and immigration up, and these guys—Labor—come into the House and say, 'We're going to fix it all with the TAFE system, and we're going to throw a bucketload of money at it.' I asked one of the peak bodies today, before coming in, to send me what they think the issue is. They were quite adamant. They said that, whenever either government, us or Labor—and Labor do this more often than we do—take the financial incentives away from the employer, the apprenticeship numbers and training numbers fall off a cliff.”
“So, rightfully, Labor have taken on a very aggressive immigration position where they've got 1.2 million extra migrants in the country. That's not to mention we're not too sure where all of them will live, and that is putting pressure on our housing sector. But that's not a debate for today. I want to stay in the skills shortage area. You would have thought, with all those extra migrants coming in, that that would have dealt with the shortage, but it's only expanded the problem. We need to have migration, but it needs to be targeted migration. But the unions will not have it. They won't bring the electricians in. They won't bring the chippies in. They won't bring any of them into the country.”
“I've outlined that we had 415,000 trainees and apprentices in the system when we left. There are 107,000 fewer today. By 2027, it is forecast that we will be 300,000 skilled tradesmen short to meet not only our Olympics bid but just the day-to-day infrastructure required. Look at the housing situation we've got at the moment. When we were in office, according to the Housing Industry Association, house construction was around 200,000 to 220,000 a year. A simple Google search will confirm that today, under Labor, it's 170,000 on average. If you listen to their ambitious targets about housing constructs, on average they need around 255,000 now to meet their target. Without the skilled tradespeople coming into the system, we'll just never get there. We will never get there.”
“When we left office, there were 415,000 trainees and apprentices in the system. Today, after four years of Labor, there are over 107,000 fewer. That's the reality of bringing this motion to the House. The track record of Labor in apprenticeships and training is so appalling, and I'm going to spell it out for every one in the room. Before I do that, the speaker just before said she was proud of her productivity rates under Labor. They're some of the lowest in the world, in the OECD. The productivity rates in Australia at the moment are nothing to be proud of. But Labor will, of course, take credit for that. She spoke about how they see TAFE investment as responsible spending. I'm going to share with the room some of the completion rates in the TAFE system as opposed to the private sector, and they are in stark contrast.”
“People are coming to the country, but we're not converting them to the skills that we need to meet the pipeline of infrastructure into the future. We've got nowhere for them to live. Housing rates mean our kids are going without. Housing affordability is becoming more and more of a challenge. The only way we're going to turn this around is to work with small business, and it's our coalition that is the friend of small business.”
“When we left office there were over 415,000 apprentices and trainees in the system. Today, sadly, there are 100,000-plus fewer. Shame! This is in a time when housing affordability is killing us. When we were in office, we built on average 200,000 homes a year. We did that year in, year out. Today, under Labor, we are averaging around 170,000. Labor have ambitious housing targets. The Housing Industry Association suggests that, in order for Labor to hit their targets, they've got to average around 255,000 homes, year in, year out. We just do not have the skills to meet those targets, and we are not training workers to have them. This government is turning its back on the skilled workforce that we need for the future. Immigration numbers are through the roof.”
“Do not kid yourself that it is not hard work. You're up early. You go to bed late. There are big volumes and small margins. You have to have your eye on every bottle, because the margins are so low. If you take your eye off, you can be broke in a very short amount of time. The coalition welcome the relief for pubs and clubs and beer drinkers, and we'll not stand between the government and a cut to the beer tax. But let's be clear: the freeze delivers less than one per cent of relief per pint. That's enough to give Labor the headline of a cut to the beer tax, but it's just a headline. We welcome this. To all of my people and all my publicans in the electorate of Wright: I look forward to having a beer with you when I get home.”
“It's just out of a sense of civic duty and Australian patriotism, getting into my local pubs! My favourite little local is a place called Dugandan. No-one can pronounce it, so we all just call it the 'Dugie'. The way it's written, they'll call it the 'Dug-andan' or something. Wednesday night is quiz night. We're always looking for new quiz members to come down. That pub provides that sense of community, that social hub. I get into the quizzes with the schoolteachers who come down. There's a group from the hospital. There are a couple of retirees. There's even a group we let into the pub who call themselves the 'Greenies'. They play and conduct themselves at the quiz night as well. I actually ran a pub for a very short amount of time after I finished with my time at the bank. It was the Eimeo hotel up in Mackay.”
“Broaden your mind for a moment and think about the jobs, the economic benefit and the multiplier that goes around the economy. The alcohol industry directly supports the employment of around 176,000 full-time-equivalent jobs. The alcohol manufacturing industry employs about 22½ thousand. Now, in my great state of Queensland, we've got two big breweries up there—XXXX and CUB through their manufacturing location on the Gold Coast. Those jobs are mostly Queensland jobs. There are a further 21,000 alcohol related jobs in the retail sector and a whopping 126,300 alcohol related jobs in the hospitality sector, in the restaurants, pubs et cetera. I want to offer my support for freezing the excise, because I think pubs need a fair go. The number of pubs I have in my electorate—I think I've been to every one of them.”
“It would have just kept on going up and up and up and up. In fact, the only way, without government intervention, that the excise would have stopped was if there were no pub left in Australia for the excise to be applied to. It was done originally to keep it in line with inflation, but, unfortunately, the cost of doing business in Australia under this government outstrips the inflationary pressures. There are the cost increases in insurance, labour and energy. Food is up 16 per cent for those pubs with kitchens. This alcohol tax will raise around $8 million per year. The cost to freeze the excise altogether is going to be about $90 million over the forward estimates, but that's only less than two per cent of what the actual receipts are. More important is what this industry does for Australia.”
“I rise to offer my support for the freezing of excise taxes on draught beer, an election commitment that we made during the last election. It's now time to action it. I want to acknowledge the amazing work done by the Australian Hotels Association in lobbying and advocating for this outcome—the work conducted by Steve Ferguson, the amount of kilometres he walks in these corridors to get these outcomes on behalf of his membership, coupled with my Queensland AHA president, Richard Deery, from the Story Bridge Hotel. He is an amazing Australian who run some significant events there at the hotel tucked underneath the Story Bridge in Brisbane. There is also their CEO for Queensland, Bernie Hogan, a tireless advocate. Interestingly enough, the way this excise is calculated is that there's no cap on it.”
“Australia Day in my region is not about speeches and ceremonies alone; it's about acknowledging the amazing people, whether they're volunteers, emergency workers, teachers, farmers, business owners or community leaders, who make our region such a great place for us to call home.”
“Citizen of the Year 65+ went to Phil Rankin. The Community Event of the Year went to Boonah State High School's paddock-to-plate function. And the Community Spirit award went to Beaudesert Hospital Auxiliary. The Mayor's Award went to Kay Tommerup. Each of these awardees represent service, generosity and commitment to others. I also wish to acknowledge members of our electorate recognised on the Australia Day 2026 Honours List: Mr Wen Yao Ko OAM, Ms Susan Neale ASM, Mrs Dannielle Bull ESM and Flight Sergeant Anthony Ahchow CSM. These honours reflect extraordinary service to our nation and community.”
“Farm Innovation went to Rieck Farming, showing how tradition and innovation now walk hand in hand. The Best Business went to Emporium, supporting local jobs in our main street. The Community Leader award went to Phil Ortlipp, a dedicated police officer and a community champion. And a very special award went to Ray Parker from Aratula, recognised for a lifetime of service and community spirit. These are the people who quietly keep our region strong. Later in the day I attended a citizenship ceremony and Scenic Rim Australia Day Awards in Beaudesert. We welcomed 71 new citizens. It's always a powerful reminder how fortunate we are to live in this country. I congratulate this year's Scenic Rim awards recipients. Citizen of the Year 16-30 went to Izzabella Lower. Citizen of the Year 31-65 went to Jenny Jenner and Kane Lutter.”
“Australia Day is a day that reflects who we are as a nation: resilient, generous, hardworking and community minded. Like many Australians, I spent the day with local families, volunteers and community leaders, all celebrating what makes our part of Queensland very special. I began Australia Day at the Kalbar community breakfast awards, a wonderful local tradition that brings people together—local families, farmers, business owners, young people and volunteers. I acknowledge Wilson Neuendorf for his leadership in those awards. It was an honour to recognise some of our outstanding locals. The Young Achiever went to Gabriella Stokes, a wonderful example of leadership and service. The Young Farmer went to Ben Neuendorf, representing the future of Australian agriculture.”
“Then, in April 2025, the comment from the Treasurer when inflation was going down was, 'This is proof of the responsible economic management which has been a defining feature of the Albanese government.' So they take credit for the numbers when they're going down, but it's always somebody else's fault when it's going up. I've got five kids. They're great kids, but even they're starting to see through it. How can you take the credit on one but not on the other? So Speers says in January 2026, just a couple of weeks ago— (Time expired)”
“The Treasurer stood at the dispatch box today and tried to make the argument that none of the decisions that have been made by the Reserve Bank have got any unintended consequences for what we're doing here in this House. They've got no unintended consequences for what our spending habits are—none whatsoever. You know, as a Labor Party, you're in trouble when you've got the ABC starting to roll the heat up on you. I draw you to the attention of no less than David Speers, who on 24 October had an interview with the Treasurer. The Treasurer said, 'I think, when it comes to inflation specifically, the worst is behind us, and better days are ahead.' I would have hoped that that was correct. And, as Australians, we all would have hoped that that was correct.”
“Some of the larger ones that will deal with the larger retailers will make the argument that they can't push those costs on and they'll absorb it. But, to use the basic principles of business, you calculate your costs and you push them on. So today's rate rise means that everyone is going to be poorer as a result of the RBA's decision. I remember being in grade 9. We had to debate, in an economics class, which was more important: fiscal or monetary policy. The lecturer or the teacher was trying to establish that you had a complete understanding of both policy settings. What's avoiding the Australian Labor Party, the Prime Minister and the Treasurer at the moment is that they're making the argument that there is now a complete separation between fiscal and monetary policy and the two are not connected.”
“There are so many people in Australia that will take the position that they don't own a house—'I don't have a mortgage, so the rate rise doesn't really affect me.' But can I tell you it does? It affects everyone because any business that's got an overdraft—and we come from a party of business; we come from a party that understands what it means to balance the books. We bet our lot. We bet our family home with a bank to say that we think we can get out the other side of this. I know businesses in my electorate—my farming businesses, my coffee shops—have overdrafts. When their cost of business goes up, so does the cost of their production, so does the cost that gets pushed onto the consumers. That is, for those who can.”
“Before I make a contribution, today in the House the Prime Minister advised the House that absent would be the member for Blair. This is the first opportunity I've had to get to my feet to offer my thoughts and prayers to him and his family as they navigate the waters ahead. He and I have been adversaries and neighbours from across the political divide, and I know him to be a good man. My thoughts are with him. That aside, Labor are failing the Australian public. Shayne, if you're watching, you'll know that this is all true. I can see him firing up right now. Australians are poorer today as a result of the RBA's announcement to shift rates from 3.6 per cent to 3.85 per cent.”
“And we will do what we need to do in this place to change the course, the trajectory, that our country's on at the moment. We need to do that not only for the Jewish community; we need to do it for our kids and the next generation.”
“Marika Pogany, 82, known lovingly as 'Omi', was a mother, a grandmother and a pillar of her community. Peter Meagher, 61, was a retired New South Wales police detective sergeant who spent 34 years of his career protecting others. Dan Elkayam, 27, was a young man in the prime of his life. Reuven Morrison, 62, was a businessman, a philanthropist and the patriarch of his family. Tibor Weitzen, 78—a father, grandfather and a great-grandfather—managed to survive the worst tragedy in human history, where six million Jews were murdered, but could not survive this crisis. Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, 39, was a deeply committed religious community leader. Tania Tretiak, 67, was a much loved member of the Randwick community. You will never be in the darkness; we will always keep you in the light.”
“So, in my closing comments, I would like to just speak the names of those 15 into the Hansard . There were Boris and Sofia Gurman. Boris was 69, and his wife, Sofia, was 61. They had been married for 34 years. Rabbi Eli Schlanger, 41 years old, was a devoted rabbi, a chaplain and a father of five. Edith Brutman, 68, was a loved member of the Sydney Jewish community and a woman of great principle. Adam Smyth, 50 years old, was a local Bondi resident, a loving husband to his wife, Katrina, and a father of four. Boris Tetleroyd, 68, was a gentle soul and a gifted musician. There was10-year-old Matilda, who we have heard about today from most speakers and whose parents named their firstborn, in their words, with 'the most Australian name that can ever exist'.”
“It would be heartbreaking for a community that was out celebrating joyfulness to have a part of their heart, their soul, torn from them, with that loss never to be replaced. I can't fathom the hate. I cannot fathom the hate of the shooters. Who could bring a rifle to their shoulder and find an unarmed 10-year-old innocent child in the crosshairs—I cannot find the hate that would then cause them to pull the trigger and repeatedly go through this process. I can't understand why that hate is there. I don't know what they expect to achieve with these actions, and I don't know how we fix it. I heard in our contributions today that the Jewish community have a belief that, if you continue to speak the names of those that have fallen, they will not stay in the dark; they will forever be in the light—a magnificent contribution.”
“Jewish Australians do not feel safe, and if Jewish Australians do not feel safe then no Australian feels safe. You warned of this menacing storm, and you said you felt unheard. There were some other comments that were made around the contribution to our country. And there were some comments made around the different stages of grief. Some human behavioural theorists would suggest that there are five stages of grief: first denial, then anger, and then, ultimately, acceptance. These stages are not necessarily linear, and each individual person who grieves can grieve differently. This particular incident gave me time to ponder how those victims are feeling. I tried to fathom what it would be like if it were one of my children, if it were my wife, if it were my parents or if it were my grandparents—how I would deal with the loss.”
“There was a comment from the other side where they said, 'Antisemitism is anti civilisation,' and then additional comments that it was anti-Australian. It is anti-Australian. This is not the country we want for the next generation. It's not the country we want for our children. I want to acknowledge the contribution made by the Leader of the Opposition, where she said: Antisemitic hate fuelled the terrorists on 14 December, but it came out of the shadows in October 2023. It walked our streets. It marched over our bridges. It took over our landmarks. It camped in university quadrangles. It painted graffiti on our buildings. It firebombed our places of worship. It sent children to school behind locked gates and armed guards. Like a slow, creeping disease, it festered in plain sight.”
“It was an act of terrorism that deliberately targeted the Australian Jewish community, gathering to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah. I want to acknowledge the courage, composure and quick action of all those police officers, first responders and healthcare workers whose dedication and skills saved lives. I also want to acknowledge the trauma of the men and women who were injured physically and psychologically, including those who witnessed the horror. I wish to express Australia's deep admiration for those heroes of Bondi, the everyday people who showed extraordinary bravery and unselfishness, including those who were wounded and killed. Some of the contributions I heard today moved me.”
“My fellow Australians, my sincere condolences go to those that are affected by the antisemitic terrorist attack that happened on our shores that has ingrained itself—a scar on our landscape that history will remember. I represent, and offer my condolences on behalf of, all of the people of Wright. I cannot fathom the amount of pain that those people endured on that given day. I want to acknowledge and associate myself with some of the comments that have been made in this House today from both sides of the chamber. The contributions have been genuine; the contributions have been heartfelt, and, to some extent, enlightening. The contributions that we make today condemn the atrocity which stole the lives of those victims of the terror attack.”
“For packing sheds that pack and value-add to the likes of corn, onions, cauliflower, cabbages, broccolini and various other vegetables, when their energy costs increase 40 per cent, they've two choices. They can put it onto their cost of the product, which has got an inflationary effect for you, or they can go broke. There are more businesses going broke today under this government than there has been. When my growers and irrigators water their crop, they're water intensive. Their costs go up 40 per cent. They're not going to be here under this government.”
“Electricity prices are going up, and, when they go up, two things happen. The first thing is you'll pay more for your product because the manufacturing cost, the cost of doing business, has gone up 40 per cent from when this government first came into power. When electricity prices go up 40 per cent, business has got two choices: absorb the cost or pass it on. If it's getting passed on, you in the gallery will pay more for your product. The other thing that happens when electricity prices go up is that our debt gets bigger. We're screaming towards a trillion dollars worth of debt and we're pushing that debt onto the next generation of Australians, who are going to have to pay it. In my electorate, the largest contributor to GDP is agriculture.”
“I rise on behalf of the shadow minister for veterans' affairs. He's been detained in getting to the chamber, but I'm sure he is on his way as we speak. Absolutely! I'll share with the room that I'm of the opinion that the shadow minister has very strong opinions on the Veterans’ Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 1) Bill 2025 and is keen to get to his feet and offer his comments. I think those concerns were around—is this the tribunal one? It may be the bill that affects the tribunal's decision to—”
“I notice that the bill has been referred to the Federation Chamber, where the minister will offer his kind remarks and, I dare say, acknowledge the department for finding the oversight. Debate adjourned.”
“As a result, I want to offer my thanks to the department for the work that they have done in getting to the bottom of what was an oversight. It was picked up in a standard review, and, as a result, the extra funding that was required to address the anomaly has been borne within an internal machination of the department. In seeking stakeholder engagement with a number of people who were affected, all are of the same opinion—none of them share any great concern. This is in essence, as I said, an uncontroversial bill. The government are to be offered the due compliment that they deserve for the way that they have worked cooperatively in this space to fix an anomaly.”
“The VET Student Loans (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2025 is an uncontroversial bill. It's a bill on which I've worked closely with the minister. The minister's office has provided briefings with the department. The bill seeks to remedy an oversight in the original bill, which was introduced in 2017. There's a degree of retrospectivity within the bill. It seeks to offer protection to around 200,000 registered training organisations that, when applying for student loans for their vocational students, inadvertently picked up their tax file number. It would have been prudent to ensure that that tax file number was then no longer viewed by the provider. This anomaly was subsequently picked up by the department in a review.”
“That's why I, along with industry leaders and peak bodies across the country, are calling on the Albanese government to urgently reinstate and strengthen employer incentives, before the 1 January deadline, to restore confidence and to protect Australia's future workforce. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. Without them, apprentices will collapse. I'd asked the minister to reconsider on behalf of the sector.”
“The reality is that wages are going up and the costs of business are going up, especially energy costs. Compliance is getting harder, red tape is getting thicker and small-business owners are being pushed to the limit. The only thing going down under Labor is the support for employers who take on the apprentices. It's madness. Labor decision shows a government completely out of touch with the reality facing businesses and tradies on the ground today. Their ideological opposition to backing employers is driving our skills system into the ground and threatening the next generation of tradespeople. Labor is talking a big game about solving the housing crisis, but you can't build more homes without more tradies. If you can't train more tradies without employers, who can afford to take them on? Cutting support for them now is the wrong time.”
“It may not sound like much to those sitting on the other side of the chamber, but, to a small-business owner trying to keep the doors open, every single dollar counts. At a time when almost 15,000 businesses have gone broke under Labor's watch in the last year alone, this decision is not just short-sighted; it's reckless. When the coalition was in government, the apprentice system was strong. We saw record highs of over 428,000 Australians in training, confidence was high, businesses were hiring, and apprentices were coming through the system in record numbers. But today, under Labor, there are 107,000 fewer apprentices training in the system. That is 107,000 fewer young Australians learning a trade. That's not just a statistic; that's tens of thousands of careers that'll never be started and small businesses that will never grow.”
“I rise today to call out this government's failure on employer incentives for apprentices. From January, Labor will slash employer incentives for apprentices from $5,000 to $4,000 per apprentice. That's a thousand dollars less support for every small business that is doing the right thing by training the next generation, giving young Australians a start and keeping our economy moving. Without skilled workers we can't build homes, we can't keep the lights on and we can't maintain the roads, the hospitals or the infrastructure that makes our country work. Yet, at the very moment when Australia's skills pipeline is on life support, the Albanese Labor government has decided to pull the plug.”
“By 2040 Australia is on track to be short 200 thousand engineers. From the ground up, from rubble to the skyline, the skill shortage is biting hard, and it's biting under Labor. When the coalition left office there were 428,000 apprentices and trainees across the country. Today, that number has plummeted by 107,000. Every shortage adds to cost and to delays, and puts the dream of homeownership further out of reach. It's time to rebuild our apprenticeship pipeline, back our tradies and give young Australians the chance to build our future—a future that they deserve.”
“If we want to understand the depth of the Australian skills crisis, imagine trying to build a house, but before the first brick can be laid, before a single frame goes up, you need people. You need skilled people. You need builders, electricians, plumbers, tilers, carpenters, glaziers and roofers. According to the Housing Industry Association of Australia, we're short 83,000 construction tradies. But a house doesn't just sit on an island; it sits on a street. To reach that house, you first need to lay the road, along with the pipes, the power lines, the water and the telecommunications. The Civil Contractors Federation has reported on an ongoing shortage around 197,000 public infrastructure workers, and to design those roads and bridges, and to plan the delivery and infrastructure our nation relies on, you need engineers.”
“All of this is under the new Labor government—a nation in the grip of a housing crisis while the pipeline of skilled workers to build the homes we need is drying up. It's little wonder Australians are waiting longer, paying more and losing hope of ever owning their own home. Labor will talk a big talk, but, when it comes to delivering, they'll always be found wandering. My motion today is not about politics; it's about the people. It's about the young apprentices that we need to employ in this country who can't get a start. It's the civil contractor in Darwin who can't find the tradies. It's time to get Australia building again. It's time to get Australia training again, and it's time to get Australia working again.”