Federal Treasurer Peter Costello recently remarked that every parrot in the pet shop was talking about skills shortages but no one was talking about the unskilled labour shortage. While Treasurer Costello thought his quip was pretty funny, the skills shortage has definitely put the Federal Government on the back foot over the past couple of months
by Craig Donaldson
Federal Treasurer Peter Costello recently remarked that every parrot in the pet shop was talking about skills shortages but no-one was talking about the unskilled labour shortage. While Treasurer Costello thought his quip was pretty funny, the skills shortage has definitely put the Federal Government on the back foot over the past couple of months.
The Government managed to concoct a number of defences – some moderately plausible and others less so. Prime Minister Howard blamed a shortage of skilled labour on a generation of parents being obsessed with getting their child a university education. Treasure Costello said the skills shortage was simply a symptom of a healthy economy and that it was still a couple of decades off.
I don’t know if Treasurer Costello has got out of the comfy ambience of his mahogany veneered Parliament House office lately, but the skills shortage is definitely not a couple of decades off. Many blue collar trades are already experiencing serious, if not dire shortages, while some white collar professions are also starting to experience shortages. Some employers have had to resort to looking overseas to fill gaps in their labour force, while others are having to significantly hike up pay rates just to attract and retain workers. In Queensland, for example, an employer group recently petitioned the state’s Industrial Relations Commission for a 30 per cent raise for surveyors simply because there aren’t enough to go around. This comes on the heels of a massive 31 per cent pay rise for electricity workers across the state last month – for the same reasons. Skills shortage a couple of decades off? I don’t think so.
The National Centre for Vocational Education found that, since 1997, the Federal Government has increased funding for training in this area by less than 10 per cent, compared with an increase of 17.8 per cent from the States and Territories. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Yes, the Federal Government can toot its own horn about good economic management, but its own short-sightedness and tight-fistedness in investing where it counts will see Australia pay dearly over the coming years.
