Doorstop interview, Bendigo
LISA CHESTERS, MEMBER FOR BENDIGO: Very proud to be here today in Quarry Hill, one of our oldest but growing suburbs here in Bendigo with the Minister Andrew Giles, who is here today to talk about the Key Apprenticeship Program. It's an incentive payment that we are putting on the table to encourage young people to complete their trade, [indistinct] building and construction trade. Here we’ve just met with some of our bricklayers and bricklaying apprentices who are receiving this particular payment.
In regional Victoria, there over 3,000 people enrolled in this program, that little bit extra in their pay packet to help them complete their trade. We know we need skilled people to be able to do the builds, the extensions, to complete the construction work that we need to make sure everybody has a home, a place where they can live. And here in Bendigo we have that great mix – new homes, existing homes, all who need the trades to be able to make sure that they are meeting the needs of our community. So it's really great to have Minister Giles here, and he's now going to say a few words about the program in more detail, and then we'll hear from some of the people that are working on this project. So welcome back to Bendigo, Minister Giles.
ANDREW GILES, MINISTER FOR SKILLS AND TRAINING: Thanks, Lisa. It's so good to be back here in Quarry Hill with you, and can I pay tribute to the extraordinary advocacy you deliver on behalf of this community in Federal Parliament and right around the country. It's particularly good to be here at this building site because there's no more important national goal for the Albanese Labor Government in building homes for Australians. And to build those homes we need more people picking up the tools and becoming tradies. And under our Government we can say that there's never been a better time than to do just that. With the runaway success of programs like Free TAFE, and in particular, in just 14 months our Key Apprenticeship Program targeted support at apprentices in the building trade, and of course their employers too.
So it's been great to speak to Daniel, the employer here, about the work that he's doing, giving the next generation of tradies that head start, and to apprentices like Seth, and in particular Jordan, who's in receipt of this program, what it means to them. $5,000 to encourage a business, particularly a small business who represent the overwhelming majority of businesses engaged in the housing construction sector – $5,000 for them to cover the costs of taking on an apprentice. And for the apprentice, $10,000 paid in five instalments to make sure that over the life of an apprenticeship, those cost of living pressures that we're all feeling right now don't cause someone to move away and try something else instead of getting their ticket and being able to make their contribution. Because we know, thanks to the Master Builders that for every qualified tradesperson, that's 2.5 houses being built. So getting everyone qualified is absolutely important.
It's absolutely thrilling to see that so many Australians responded to the program – 38,000 around the country, 11,918 in regional Australia, and as Lisa just reminded me, more than 3,000 in regional Victoria. Just as Free TAFE has been a runaway success in regional parts of the country, so too has this program that provides a real difference, a real incentive for more regional Victorians and regional people right around Australia to pick up the tools, become a tradie and build homes for Australia. So it's a thrilling to pay tribute to the efforts of people like Daniel, business owners investing in their business and investing in the next generation of Australians. And also to those tradespeople upskilling, reskilling, having a second crack as Jordan is, of getting his ticket and making his contribution.
JOURNALIST: I guess, tell me how has this program helped your business?
DANIEL PATULLO, OWNER, PRO MASONRY BRICKLAYING: Well, it is very hard to find apprentices, any workers in general actually. So yeah, any incentives that can come forth, it really helps with the, it’s going to help finding people. It’s difficult.
JOURNALIST: And I guess this particular program, how has that helped your business? How many more apprentices have you gotten from it?
PATULLO: On this one, this current one now, I haven't found any up on this actual current legislation where they brought through. So yeah, I'm not too sure. But I'm hoping in the future that it will definitely bring, it’ll start to flow through.
JOURNALIST: And I guess previous programs, has that also helped with apprentices in the past?
PATULLO: So the old one where it was they used to pay 50 per cent of their wage, that was great. But I've been told that that's not coming back.
JOURNALIST: And how important are having apprentices in your business?
PATULLO: As you can see, half of my business. So it's pretty hard to find anyone to work these days, so you pretty much have to, the only way to do it now is to train people yourself. You can't actually find many skilled workers anymore, so you have to build them.
JOURNALIST: And I guess on you becoming an apprentice, have you seen any benefits of these programs?
JORDAN HOWARTH, APPRENTICE: Not yet, but I'm waiting.
JOURNALIST: What made you want to be an apprentice?
HOWARTH: I just wanted to be qualified in something and have a trade under my belt.
JOURNALIST: And what were you going to say before I cut you off?
PATULLO: [indistinct]
JOURNALIST: That's probably all I need. Anything else you guys would like to say about the program?
PATULLO: Not really.
JOURNALIST: How much longer are you on your apprenticeship [indistinct]?
HOWARTH: A few months, I’ve only got a few months.
JOURNALIST: Are you a fourth-year apprentice?
HOWARTH: Third year.