Apprenticeships and Traineeships

Mr BOYER (Wright) (15:04): My question is to the Minister for Innovation and Skills. How many of the 20,800 apprenticeships and traineeships the government said it would create by 2022 have been created so far?

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley—Minister for Innovation and Skills) (15:04): This is a very good news story for South Australia. We have—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my right!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: Despite the difficulties of COVID hitting in March, with 45,000 South Australians losing their jobs virtually overnight when the lockdown hit South Australia, I am pleased to report that in South Australia we were the only state to finish the last financial year to June 2020 with more apprentices in training than we started the year with—8 per cent more—and the nation went backwards by nearly 4 per cent. Then, of course, for commencements, even though during that period—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —that three-month period—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: During that three-month period—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the Minister for Education! The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: Even during that three-month period, when we were managing suspensions of apprenticeships, up to 2,000 of them at one time, we still saw South Australia finishing with more commencements during the year than they started.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: We saw an increase of 2.1 per cent in commencements compared to the same time the previous year. What happened nationally? Nationally, there was a 14.2 per cent decline in commencements. We are delivering on our election promise—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —of creating more apprenticeships and traineeships in South Australia. For the very first time—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will resume his seat. Members on my left will cease interjecting. The minister is entitled to be heard in silence. The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: For the very first time, we are actually seeing higher apprenticeships delivered here in South Australia.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: For the 16 years they were in office, they were talking about a transformation in the economy, a transforming economy. That was their excuse for coming 86,000 jobs short of the 100,000 jobs they promised—by that much.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: That was their excuse for transforming—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Badcoe is called to order.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —the economy. Not a single higher apprenticeship was delivered by those over there at that time. We are leading the nation in the delivery of commencements of higher apprenticeships, brand-new apprenticeships—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for West Torrens!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —that didn't exist under those opposite. We are committed to growing apprenticeships and traineeships in South Australia. We are delivering on that promise of more apprenticeships and traineeships in South Australia. We are nation leading—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will resume his seat. Members on my left will cease interjecting. The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: We have brand-new apprenticeships for women now. Those in the care sector. You know what traditionally happened in South Australia under 16 years of Labor—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Playford will leave for 15 minutes in accordance with standing order 137A. The minister has the call.

The honourable member for Playford having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: Women who predominantly work in the care sector had to go to learn in their own time and then work for someone for free for eight weeks to get qualified, no paid traineeship or apprenticeship. That happened when the Liberal Party came to office.

Can you imagine a whole lot of construction trainees having a barbecue at lunchtime and reminiscing about the days when they went to school to learn their trade and worked for free for on-the-job training? No way, and why did Labor allow that to happen?

Mr MALINAUSKAS: A point of order, Mr Speaker: debate, 98(a). It was a very simple request for a number. There are only 15 seconds left of question time. The opposition, and I think the South Australian public, would very much value the minister just answering the question.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I say to members on my right and members on my left that I am listening very carefully to the minister's answer. The minister is entitled to be heard in silence. The minister has the call.

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Lee will leave for 15 minutes in accordance with standing order 137A.

The honourable member for Lee having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: I was asked a question about how many. I am talking about how many different sorts of apprenticeships we have been delivering. That was the question—how many? That's the answer I am giving, but they don't like the answer. The facts are they left skills training in a mess, went to the election with no policy, three years later still no skills policy.