Apprenticeships and Traineeships

Dr HARVEY (Newland) (14:13): My question is to the Minister for Industry and Skills: can the minister update the house on joint state and federal government initiatives to encourage employers to take on new apprentices and trainees?

The SPEAKER: Minister for Industry and Skills.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition, you can leave for 20 minutes, thank you.

Mr Malinauskas: For what?

The SPEAKER: For interjecting on two warnings.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: You are throwing out the Leader of the Opposition?

The SPEAKER: Yes.

The honourable member for Croydon having withdrawn from the chamber:

Mr Duluk: Magic Circle. No. 3.

The SPEAKER: The member for Waite can join him—half an hour.

The honourable member for Waite having withdrawn from the chamber:

The SPEAKER: Minister, I am just dealing with this issue.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: Should I come back?

The SPEAKER: No, the minister has the call.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley—Minister for Industry and Skills) (14:14): I thank the member for Newland for the question. I know how excited he is about the government's training and the apprenticeship program. Do you know why he is excited? Because his constituents are excited. They can see there is a future for their children in South Australia. Finally, there is a future for their children here in South Australia because this government is making sure their children have the skills they need for the opportunities that are coming our way.

Already the member for Newland was very excited about our Diploma of Advanced Technologies, a brand-new traineeship, followed not long after by our cybersecurity traineeships, another brand-new traineeship. Eight months of government, two brand-new traineeships and a new economy, compared with what the others left behind: a 66 per cent drop-off in the number of commencements of apprentices and trainees over the last six years.

It gets even better, sir. You know that we have $203 million because of the partnership between the federal government and the state government. South Australia was the first to sign. We were so pleased with the cooperation we got from the federal government and the fact that they understood the vision of the South Australian government to provide more jobs. Not only were the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry excited about what the South Australian government has delivered with the federal government but they wrote to all the other jurisdictions to say, 'Don't worry about reinventing the wheel. Do what South Australia has done.'

There is even better news to tell. Just last week, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a brand-new wage subsidy for apprentices in regional South Australia. They have identified that the number one issue with employers is the cost of taking on apprentices and trainees. This is a $60 million trial from the federal government to encourage more regional businesses to take on their first apprentice, with a 75 per cent subsidy in that first year. I know from the conversations that I have had with industry that they are thrilled to bits to be engaged in this process. Ignored for so many years by those opposite, now they are engaged in the process, they are driving the process and they are delivering on the process here in South Australia.

There were 100 expressions of interest in my department for getting involved in the bespoke building of apprenticeship programs for individual industries and businesses. Industry are engaged, so there is a change in the way businesses are doing business here in South Australia because the government supports those businesses, because we know that they need the skilled labour in order to grow.