Vocational Education and Training

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (14:28): By way of supplementary question, the minister noted in her original answer the adverse impacts this had on the broadacre agricultural sector. I ask the minister: why were these adverse impacts not identified prior to this point?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (14:28): We have recognised, and I have acknowledged in this place on several occasions, that we had an influx of once-off additional funding that has been made available over the last three years or so. Those moneys were made available to assist the government to achieve its $100 million—$100,000, I should say—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: Who gets their figures wrong again?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: They haven't got a clue; they have not got a clue.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: They haven't got a clue. They come into this place day in, day out, making all sorts of assertions and accusations, waving figures around that they don't even understand. They've got no idea, Mr President. It is so embarrassing. That Budget and Finance Committee is an absolute embarrassment in terms of the opposition members of that. They haven't got a clue. They are just a bunch of Mickey Mouse, political opportunists. They haven't got a clue.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Anyway, I won't be distracted. I was asked a very important question by the Hon. Tammy Franks, and I will answer that—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Ms Lee.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: Point of order, Mr President: when you spoke, the minister sat down because she thought that you were indicating that—

The PRESIDENT: No, she had finished.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: Well, she said just then that she wanted to answer my question. She has still not answered my question.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: I can provide more information, Mr President.

The PRESIDENT: If you want. Minister.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Thank you, sir. It is those interjections that are, of course, just eating up really important question time. If the opposition want to interject and waste precious question time, that's a matter for them, but the Hon. Tammy Franks has asked an important question. Those additional funds were made available. We know that we are now contracting after a great deal of stimulation in training activity during that time, and we know that there is a contraction in that budget activity that will impact on training outcomes.

We have worked very hard, through efficiencies, to minimise that. As I said, we know that we are able to deliver 81,000 subsidised training places for 2015-16, which is slightly more than this year, and we know that that is well above pre-Skills for All training activity levels. So, we are ahead. So too is the funding, although that has contracted from that stimulation of increased once-off funding; nevertheless, the funding of $285 million is still above pre Skills for All funding levels.

I have encouraged the private sector to work with us in this regard. Each business has a completely different business configuration, they have different scopes, they have a range of fee-for-service and other private business activities that they don't report to DCD on, so it is important that we meet with those who believe they are going to be affected in an adverse way and that we work with them to identify where that is going to occur, the magnitude and how we can work with them to help minimise that.