6 hours Ago By David Crowe
Apprentices will be given $10,000 to learn their trades in a federal bid to attract more workers to the construction industry and fix a chronic labour shortage that is being blamed for driving up the cost of housing. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will pledge the funds in a major speech on Friday that will also promise help for households on the cost of living and policies to expand the economy, as Labor loses ground to the Coalition ahead of this year’s election. Anthony Albanese has promised $10,000 more for apprentices to encourage more people to take up trades.
Credit: Louie Douvis The incentive payment will be offered to all apprentices in construction trades so they receive the money at five stages through their courses, adding to an existing scheme that offers the same amount to apprentices in renewable energy jobs. Albanese will also signal an increase in the federal allowance paid to apprentices who have to move away from home to take up their jobs, currently set at $77.17 per week.
The moves address a key concern in housing when Infrastructure Australia, a peak federal agency, is forecasting a shortfall of 197,000 workers across the infrastructure sector, while builders also blame the shortages for slowing projects and increasing costs . While the government has vowed to add 1.2 million homes by the middle of 2029, Infrastructure Australia warned last month that construction costs had soared 30 per cent over the past three years, a key challenge for the housing target.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will announce the apprentice scheme on Friday. Credit: Getty Images The support for apprentices will start on July 1 and will cost $626.9 million over four years, but it is already provisioned in the federal budget, under a decision taken but not announced last year, and does not change the forecasts for $143.
9 billion in deficits over the next four years. The funding indicates the government expects to pay about 62,600 apprentices over four years. Labor insiders are preparing for an election in April or May, including a possible federal budget on March 25, after calculating that an earlier date is too challenging because of the Western Australian election on March 8.
The latest Resolve Political Monitor showed the Coalition continued to hold a lead over Labor in core support, while Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is ahead by 39 to 34 per cent against Albanese as preferred prime minister . Albanese will outline the subsidy in an address to the National Press Club on Friday that will step up the campaign, after weeks of visits to electorates to announce $7.2 billion for the Bruce Highway in Queensland as well as local funding for roads and housing.
The help for apprentices fits the Labor campaign theme about “building Australia’s future” and complements a bill before parliament to extend fee-free TAFE courses to more applicants, a change opposed by the Coalition. In a growing contest over local announcements, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton campaigned on Thursday near Nowra on the NSW south coast – in the marginal electorate of Gilmore – to promise $45 million for Shoalhaven roads including the Wool Road to Vincentia. Albanese was in the same electorate last week to commit $5 million for housing in Nowra, while the government estimated last May it had put $1 billion toward Shoalhaven roads.
While the seat-by-seat visits have been dominated by local funding promises, Labor also stepped up its message to voters about action on climate change by announcing a $2 billion contribution to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. That promise tops up the cash in the fund so it can lend to more projects, at the same time it backs housing projects by offering finance to help them with their energy efficiency. The CEFC, set up by Labor in an agreement with the Greens in 2010, has grown over time to include a $9.
5 billion general portfolio, the $19 billion “rewiring the nation” fund for electricity transmission, a $1 billion household energy upgrade fund and smaller funds worth another $1 billion. This has increased federal debt, although the investments are treated as assets rather than expenditure. Apprentices will receive $2,000 in five stages, beginning when they are six months into their courses and ending at the completion of their training.
“Right now, a first-year carpentry apprentice earns about two-thirds of the minimum wage. Some apprentices earn even less,” Albanese says in an extract of his speech provided to the media. “That’s before you buy tools, safety gear, clothing and boots.
“As a number of apprentices have said, they could earn a lot more stacking shelves in their local supermarket. “Too many leave training because they can’t afford to stay. “Our government wants to encourage more Australians to get on the tools – and stay in construction.
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