AT a recent press conference in Port Stephens with the Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business, Liberal Minister Stuart Robert has stated that the Labor party is a “lie, relying on facts that don’t support them”.

As a response to a question regarding claims by the Labor Party that the Morrison Government and all levels of Liberal National Government have cut funding to TAFE, Minister Roberts strongly urged people to look at the facts of the situation.

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“The facts will set you free,” he said.

“The facts are that over $2 billion has gone from the Commonwealth to the states for skilling, and that excludes $2 billion in JobTrainer, excludes $3.7 billion in Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements, excludes $717 million for Completing Apprenticeship Commencements.

“If you exclude all of those extra funds and we just go to the base funding through what’s called the National Agreement on Skilling and Workforce Development, and of course the Skilling Australia Fund, the SAFF, those two together is the base funding that the Federal Government provides to the states and territories – it has been increasing every single year.

“Commonwealth outlays to the states for skilling, which includes expenditure on TAFE, has been increasing as a statement of fact.”

Minister Roberts concluded by stating that “anything else is a flat out lie and in short, typically Labor, because the facts don’t support them”.

Member of Parliament for Paterson, Meryl Swanson, refuted the Minister’s comments, stating that the “official figures do tell the story”.

According to the National Centre for National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) VOCSTATS data, under the former Labor Government, more than one million Australians completed their apprenticeships and traineeships in six years whilst during the same period, the Coalition has seen just over 500,000.

“In Paterson alone, apprentice and trainee numbers are down 44 percent under the Coalition.

“Under Labor, 7684 apprentices and trainees completed their training, compared with only 4297 under the Liberals during the same time.

“Labor will invest in skills training by providing access to Fee Free TAFE to 465,000 Australians studying in industries with a skills shortage, including 45,000 new places.

“Labor will deliver 20,000 extra university places over 2022 and 2023, prioritising courses in national priority areas such as clean energy, advanced manufacturing, health, education and other identified areas of skill shortage,” Ms Swanson said.

She stated that Labor will also ensure that one in ten workers on major government projects are apprentices, trainees or cadets.

By Tara CAMPBELL