The latest quarterly figures from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) have revealed that apprentice numbers are continuing to fall under the Turnbull Government.

The NCVER figures show there was a 4.5% decline in the number of apprentices and trainees in-training at 31 December 2016 compared to 31 December 2015. There are now 265 000 in training, compared to 413,400 in September 2013, a fall of 148,400 under the Turnbull Government.

Federal Member for Blair Shayne Neumann MP said that the figures painted a grim picture for Ipswich and Somerset jobseekers.

“Now more than ever, we need to be making sure that as many people as possible have the chance to access proper skills training.

“Unfortunately these figures show that there just aren’t enough opportunities out there.

“The Turnbull Government has promised 300,000 new apprentices, yet the Government’s own Education Department has been quick to backtrack from that promise, and independent commentators have argued the plan just doesn’t stack up.

“This comes on top of the $637 million cut to TAFE and apprenticeships revealed in the budget.

“It’s simply not good enough for the Malcolm Turnbull to go missing in action when job seekers are in desperate need of some leadership to reverse this decline and get people back into work.”

Mr Neumann said that the Labor Party wanted to restore apprentice numbers and provide new opportunities for job seekers.

“The Labor party is committed to returning $600 million to the skills budget, maintaining stable funding for TAFE and Apprenticeships and working directly with local employers to create new jobs in local communities.

“In short, we want to see better trained Australians with more opportunities for work.

“It’s a shame that instead of working with us to make this a reality, Malcolm Turnbull seems more focused on handing big business a $65 billion tax break.”