Doorstop Interview - Adelaide
AMANDA RISHWORTH, MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS: I am so pleased to be here today with Andrew Giles, our Minister for Skills, Brad, who runs High Calibre Roofing and Guttering, a wonderful South Australian small business. And of course, we've got Sam here, an apprentice working on site, who just showed us really some of the important skills that he is learning as a first into second year apprentice.
Today, I'm really pleased to be here because we are investing more in making sure we're getting apprentices in key areas that contribute to our focus on construction. We know we need to see more homes built in Australia, and part of the answer to that is making sure we get more apprentices on site. We know that for every apprentice, it can deliver 2.4 homes, and so it's really important that we have that training pipeline to support our apprentices. Of course, our Government from last year increased the incentives for apprentices so that we attract more to the construction industry, and that is really paying off. And in the first two months of this year, we've seen over 4,000 commencements of new apprentices starting in Australia. This adds to a really significant investment and pipeline that we've already seen starting.
So investing in our apprentices, whether it is through the Key Apprenticeship Program or through our Free TAFE, it is getting the pipeline of skills that we need right across the country so that we can build more homes. Now, I might just hand over to Andrew.
ANDREW GILES, MINISTER FOR SKILLS AND TRAINING: Thanks Amanda. It's really great to be here with you and Brad and Sam today. Today is a really big day. It really builds on the work that we've been doing since the election of the Albanese Labor Government to ensure that more Australians can get skills they want to do the jobs they need. And there's no job more important than building houses for Australians to live in. And that's why last year, we introduced the Key Apprenticeship Program. A program that gives a $10,000 incentive payment over the life of an apprenticeship for someone in a trade, like roofing, connected to house building. It's a program that we've really designed to make sure that more people can start these apprenticeships, but also finish them with payments over the life of the apprenticeship to deal with those cost of living and other pressures over the duration.
A lot changes when someone spends four years from – I don't know how old Sam is – but at a time of people's lives when a lot goes on, we want to make sure not only that we're opening the door to a great career, that we're doing absolutely everything to help someone get to the end and become qualified, as Amanda says, because we know that for every qualified tradesperson, that's 2.4 more houses that are being built. So, I want to give a bit of a shout out to Luke and the team at TAPS who help apprentices through this journey.
Now, with Brad's story, it's a really powerful one. Time on the tools and now running a business, giving some more young South Australians like Sam and Ali, who we met earlier, the opportunity to do what he's done, to have a career, and to make a contribution. And there's so many more stories that we can tell because today I'm really proud to be with Amanda to announce that our Key Apprenticeship Program has seen 17,729 sign-ups – 17,729 people starting a journey of contribution, building a great career, a great life, and building homes for Australians, nearly 900 of these in South Australia. So today, I'm thinking about people like Sam and the journey he's on. I'm thinking about Brad and the great life that he's building for himself and the doors he's opening for others, thanks to the partnership that your business has and businesses like yours has with the Albanese Labor Government.
BRAD FULTON, HIGH CALIBRE ROOFING AND GUTTERING: We're really excited to have this new incentive introduced. It's going to help ease the pressure for apprentices immensely, and we're excited to see what growth that's going to bring in the industry. For myself, I started my apprenticeship in 2014, completed my apprenticeship 2018. Went outside of the construction industry for a few years, and I've been back for 2.5 years. So, 6.5 years in industry, and I've been able to grow the business to this point where I've got endless work and opportunity. I'm able to create happy and healthy environment for Sam and my other apprentices and give them the opportunity that was given to me. So, this $10,000 incentive will be great for apprentices. And yeah, really looking forward to what the future holds for them.
JOURNALIST: Brad, can I ask you, what's your experience, when you were an apprentice and now as an employee with apprentices not completing their program and what are the reasons that lead to that?
FULTON: So I think a lot of the reasons can be just some pressure from whether that it's their employer or it can also be just, they're having to spend a lot of their own money on tools, and they might not be able to have the same lifestyle that other jobs have with not being able to spend on those.
JOURNALIST: And you're hoping this will make a difference?
FULTON: So, we're hoping that this incentive will make a huge difference and will enable them, the money that they get from their wage, they're able to spend on their own lifestyle, and the incentive will be able to be almost strictly for work use.
JOURNALIST: How has it made a difference for you guys already?
FULTON: Yes, I've got one apprentice, Sam, who's currently receiving the incentive bonus. And it's just taking that stress and pressure off of Sam and enabling him to just focus on the work and day-to-day needs.
SAM DOWLING, APPRENTICE: It’s cool. You make more money than your mates, all that stuff. My role is an apprentice first, nearly second. I chose the apprenticeship because I like being outside and using my hands. I make more money than my mates, so that's a bonus right there. The incentive puts stress off me so I don't have to spend my own money on tools and equipment. It's pretty good.
JOURNALIST: Is there a lot of pressure for you having to – obviously, we need a lot of homes and you guys are in demand. Is there pressure that builds from that?
DOWLING: No, there's no pressure on me. I'm just the apprentice. I do as I’m told.
JOURNALIST: What difference does it make buying tools, would you be stressed or struggling to buy tools if you were having to do that out of your apprentice wage without this extra help?
DOWLING: I don't think I'll be struggling. Decent amount, which I don't spend any of my money on [indistinct].
JOURNALIST: The $10,000, what are you sort of, how does that contribute? What are you spending it on?
DOWLING: I'm spending it on tools, just the apprenticeship. I bought a new ladder, circular saw, and some other tools that would help me throughout my apprenticeship.
JOURNALIST: And what's your hope once you complete your apprenticeship?
DOWLING: Eventually, work for Brad for a bit then eventually go out on my own, start my own journey.
JOURNALIST And is there any reason you chose this particular apprenticeship? Particularly roofing?
DOWLING: It’s a bit different. It’s not the same as what everyone else does, like carpentry or plumbing. It wakes you up a bit being on the roof.
JOURNALIST: What do you do on site? Like, for those who have never been on site?
DOWLING: Yesterday we had a re-gutter, which we take down the old gutters and put new ones up. Stop some leaks.
JOURNALIST: The construction industry is warning that without assistance to the sector, they're going to really grind to a halt because of the cost of fuel. Are you considering supporting this sector financially?
RISHWORTH: Look, what our focus has been, as a government, has been about ensuring supply of fuel. Our Government has been working since the war in the Middle East broke out to look at every practical measure to shield Australians from the worst. So we are course first and foremost focused on making sure that supply continues to come. As Minister Bowen has announced, that supply continues to come, and making sure that we get fuel to where it's needed.
JOURNALIST: But you're talking today about housing construction. How much of a risk is rising petrol prices to the housing construction sector and the completion of new homes, which I know is also a priority for your government?
RISHWORTH: Well, of course, the conflict in the Middle East will have an impact on our economy. And the uncertainty of how long it goes will also have an impact. The longer this war goes on, the bigger impact it will have to the economy. But our Government is working as hard as we can, making sure that we are putting practical measures in place to shield Australians from what is a global war that is having a global impact across the global economy.
JOURNALIST: And warnings that this is the biggest economic shock ever for decades. You're hearing that the sector needs support. Will you give serious consideration to that?
RISHWORTH: Look, our focus at the moment is in making sure that Australians get the supply of fuel that they need. We've been focused on that. Fuel continues to come to this country. Of course, we're also focused on making sure it gets to where it needs to go.
JOURNALIST: So you're not considering support at the same [indistinct]?
RISHWORTH: Look, as I said, our focus is on that at the moment.
JOURNALIST: Just in terms of the new homes, the builders association is also saying that our state, SA, is falling short of the National Housing Accord target. Are you aware of that, or do you think that we can actually meet those targets?
RISHWORTH: Well, of course we're working very closely with every state and territory when it comes to housing. We are the first Commonwealth Government ever to take national leadership when it comes to the supply of new homes. And we are working very closely with states and territories, whether that is through unlocking infrastructure required to build those homes, whether it is about getting more apprentices on the tools so that we can have that pipeline of skills, whether it is actually speeding up the approval of new homes through changes we've made to our environmental laws. All of these things show the national leadership we are taking. And of course, we're working with states and territories very closely.
In South Australia, there has been a really big push from the Malinauskas Government to focus on homes. There are a number of announcements made in the election that focused on housing and supply, and we very much look forward to continuing to work very closely with the government. We know that the target is an ambitious target, but we are absolutely focused on making sure we're getting more supply on the ground.
JOURNALIST: And with the fuel, I know you're focusing on supply flow at the moment, but are you concerned about the impact that it will have on construction, on completing the targets for new homes?
RISHWORTH: Well, look, of course I am concerned about the impact that increasing fuel prices are having right across the economy. The uncertainty that the war in the Middle East and the impact on the global economy, of course, is worrying for Australians right across the board. And that is why our Government, for example, has been focusing on putting more fuel into the market, whether that is through reducing temporarily the fuel standards for both diesel and for petrol, but also importantly releasing 20 per cent of our reserves. We have seen a really sharp uptick in demand and we are responding to that demand, and that's what we're focusing on. But, of course, we are not immune to the global economy. And that’s, our Government is working very hard to make sure that we shield Australians from the worst of it.
JOURNALIST: In terms of this apprenticeship program, we are the lowest behind Tassie and the NT of uptake. Is that surprising to you, or would you have wanted more apprentices here?
GILES: Look, we always want more, but I mean, I think you're looking at a population basis here. We've also got to recognise that there's some things that South Australia has done really well. The way in which many apprenticeships have been conducted here through GTOs, a much higher proportion, organisations like TAPS and PEER who are here, good completion rates. We always want to do more. We know that we need more than 100,000 workers in building and construction trades. So we're determined to do absolutely everything to build that pathway so more people like Sam can tell their mates about how much money they're earning, and more people like Brad can build homes and build a business.
JOURNALIST: The South Australian Master Builders is warning that we're looking at a shortage of more than 20,000 skilled trades by next year. Are you sure that you've got the mix right with programs like this?
GILES: Well, when we came into office around four years ago, Australia was confronted by the greatest skill shortage in 50 years, and the second worst across every advanced economy. We've been working day and night to turn that around. We've been doing that with governments like the South Australian Government because this is a shared effort. It's got so many dimensions. Free TAFE is playing a really critical role, particularly in this way, through providing pre-apprenticeship programs through Free TAFE so people can build that pathway, can build a pathway perhaps from school into a trade like roofing here with Sam.
This apprenticeship initiative is only less than a year old and is already having a really big impact. There isn't one silver bullet to this because we are turning around a generational challenge, but it's about working to do absolutely everything within the power of the Commonwealth and engaging really closely with the states, but importantly too with businesses like Brad’s.
JOURNALIST: How confident are you that we'll reach the target of 21,000 tradies, an extra 21,000 tradies by next year?
GILES: Well, we are determined to do absolutely everything to get there. And I hope that stories like the ones that we've been sharing today will inspire more young people and also some older South Australians to think about how it really has never been a better time than right now for someone to pick up the tools and think about becoming a tradie.
ENDS