Apprenticeships

Mr PISONI (Unley) (15:05): My question is to the Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills. What impact did the Gillard government's cuts of $1.2 billion in apprenticeship incentives, including nine separate payments to employers to support apprentices from 2011 to 2012, have on apprenticeship training in South Australia?

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Minister for Education and Child Development, Minister for Higher Education and Skills) (15:05): The Gillard government, the Gillard government—

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley is on two warnings.

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE: We are stretching back in history a reasonable distance there. I can see if there is any analysis that can trace the Gillard approach, but what I can say is that I understand that universally the most recent government in this country, the conservative government, has hacked into support for apprenticeships and that that has had an effect across the country.