The Labor Government has once again shown it is out of ideas and out of touch, adopting a key Liberal policy to fast-track key apprenticeships, as announced by the Opposition in December last year.
This is further proof that Labor has lost control of the housing and skills crisis they have created in South Australia and is scrambling to play catch-up.
Leader of the Opposition, Vincent Tarzia said, under Labor, Adelaide has become the least affordable capital city to rent a home and the second least affordable to buy a house in the nation, second only to Sydney.
“Labor has created the housing crisis, and they know that only we can solve it, which is why they’ve blatantly copied our idea to fast-track apprenticeships,” Mr Tarzia said.
“Peter Malinauskas and his merry men can announce all the housing development plans they like, but we have always maintained that without the people to build them, those plans are not worth the paper they’re printed on.
“The Liberal Opposition outlined a detailed seven-point plan to address the critical shortage of skilled workers last December and have been calling on the Government to adopt these important measures.
“We’re glad Labor has seen sense to copy our ideas and encourage them to take on the rest.”
Shadow Minister for Training and Skills, Matt Cowdrey added that latest data has revealed an 8.2 per cent drop in apprentices in training for the September 2024 quarter, compared to the same period in 2023 and that fewer people are starting training here in SA.
“These are damning numbers, and they confirm Labor has dropped the ball on skills development at a time when South Australia desperately needs more tradespeople and trainees across a wide range of industries,” Mr Cowdrey said.
“Unless the Government takes a serious, targeted approach to reversing these trends, the skills crisis will continue to worsen - and so too will its impact on housing.
“That’s why we’re calling on the Labor Government to immediately adopt the remainder of its detailed plan to boost apprenticeship and traineeship numbers across the state.”
The seven step Liberal plan for Boosting South Australian Apprenticeships includes:
- Three-year apprenticeships, where appropriate.
- Boosting group training.
- Guaranteed funding for construction training.
- Mentors for apprentices and their supervisors.
- Payroll tax exemptions for trainees and apprentices.
- Lifting the status of apprenticeships - bringing Worldskills to Adelaide.
- Better career counselling and VET programs in all our schools.
