Skills Training

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (14:24): My question is to the Minister for Innovation and Skills.

Members interjecting:

Mr PATTERSON: Just be courteous. Can the minister update the house on how the Marshall Liberal government is delivering on its skills and training policy?

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley—Minister for Innovation and Skills) (14:25): I thank the member for Morphett for his question. I know he likes to be part of a winning team, being a former Collingwood player, and of course the South Australian government is a winning team. We are nation-leading when it comes to skills training here in South Australia. The latest NCVER figures for September 2019 show that there was a 20 per cent increase in the number of commencements of apprenticeships and traineeships in South Australia compared to a national increase of just 1.7 per cent.

Not only that, this has happened because of a partnership that we have, that we signed, with the Morrison government back in September a year earlier, unlike the people's republic of Victoria, who refused to sign that partnership with the Morrison government. They went backwards in the same period by 3 per cent, minus 3 per cent growth in commencements of apprenticeships and traineeships.

Of course, we have put money where our mouth is. We went to the election with a policy to create more apprenticeships and traineeships here in South Australia. Those opposite: no apprenticeship policy, no training policy. Our first two budgets, we spent $50 million more than the last two budgets of those opposite in skills training. We have hit targets. We have delivered more apprenticeships and traineeship commencements since the establishment of Skilling South Australia.

The Marshall government of course welcomes Prime Minister Morrison's announcement last week for the JobMaker plan, where we will have a much stronger focus on apprenticeships and traineeships. How good is it to hear a Prime Minister elevate apprenticeships and traineeships here in Australia? We have all been in politics for a very long time. When was the last time we have seen a Prime Minister take responsibilities for skills training? I haven't seen it. I didn't see it when I was employing apprentices myself. I didn't even see it when I was an apprentice.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: I was an apprentice. What that tells us is that the federal government knows what we have known, what we have implemented, since we have been in government, and that is you need to work with industry to find out what they need to skill their industry. That's why we re-established industry skills councils. Remember those? You abolished them about 10 years ago. Industry skills councils: we are getting our information about where those skills are needed directly from industry. We are delivering bespoke programs through our Skilling South Australia program: $20 million spent so far, delivering over 100 different bespoke programs.

Gone are the days of one size fits all. We saw that happening over the last 16 years: one size fits all, fewer apprentices. That's the outcome that they achieved opposite. We have been working with industry, working with even the individual businesses, so that we can understand what their barriers are and what we can do to help them take on apprentices and trainees, because we recognise that there is a cost to the employer for doing so, and so we have been supporting them in doing that.

Of course, there are massive growth industries here in South Australia. Defence, we've got right in front of that by announcing and delivering our Diploma of Applied Technologies, a brand-new apprenticeship for those moving into the engineering space in the defence sector. It is a three-year apprenticeship. It will take off the first year of a degree in engineering if you decide to do that after you have finished your apprenticeship or you can stay working with those qualifications in the defence sector. It is a very exciting time for skills training in Australia.