- Federal Labor government puts thousands of Queensland's fee-free TAFE placements in jeopardy with planned cuts to funding agreement.
- Albanese Government's plan to cut Fee-Free TAFE funding will leave Queensland $208 million worse off.
- Minister for Finance, Trade, Employment and Training Ros Bates has written to the Federal Skills Minister, urging Canberra not to cut Queensland's fee-free TAFE funding.
Thousands of Queenslanders could be robbed of a brighter future because of the Albanese Labor Government's plan to cut $208 million from the State's fee-free TAFE agreement.
The cuts would jeopardise an estimated 11,000 placements in a devastating blow to Queensland's workforce, just as it was showing signs of recovery from the skills crisis created by the former Labor State Government's decade of decline.
Free TAFE was a key election commitment of the Albanese Labor government, but despite that, the Albanese Labor Government is now proposing to only pay 50% of the fee gap for students, which will either leave students out of pocket or force Queensland taxpayers to pay more.
Minister for Finance, Trade, Employment and Training Ros Bates said the Crisafulli Government already funds around 70% of each fee-free placement, and Canberra's planned cuts are an attack on Queensland's prosperity.
"These fee-free TAFE placements have the power to change lives and create brighter futures, not just for the Queenslanders undertaking them, but the State as a whole," Minister Bates said.
"They create project managers, childcare and support workers, and cyber security experts, and the joint-funding model allows the Crisafulli Government to deliver other things like apprentice wage subsidies for small businesses and our free apprenticeship programs.
"Labor's skills shortage had a predicted peak the size of an empty Suncorp stadium, which has eased considerably under the Crisafulli Government. We've seen record apprenticeship completions, and the number of Queenslanders starting apprenticeships is soaring.
"The Crisafulli Government is making a hell of a lot of progress, but federal Labor's planned cuts threaten to set us back a long way.
"I've written to the federal skills minister with a simple request - hold up your end of the bargain and don't cut Queensland's future."
