Employment, Western Australia

The majority voted against a motion introduced by ACT Senator Katy Gallagher (Labor), which means it failed.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government has cut 14,500 apprentices and trainees in Western Australia since it was elected in 2013,

(ii) even before the pandemic the Government cut $3 billion from TAFE, training and apprenticeship funding and billions from university funding,

(iii) as a result of these cuts, the Western Australian resources industry faces a skill shortage of over 30,000 workers by mid-2023, and

(iv) rather than training locals, the Morrison Government has added a range of mining and engineering occupations to the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List; and

(b) calls on the Morrison Government to urgently fix the resources industry skill shortage in Western Australia, by investing in training for Western Australians.