More of Howard's Lie's

This is from
http://www.actu.asn.au/
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Apprenticeship numbers that are used in a new TV advertisement by the Liberal Party are wrong and should be immediately corrected says the ACTU.
ACTU President Sharan Burrow said today:
"The first television ad by the Liberal Party wrongly states that under the Howard Government 'apprenticeships have almost tripled to over 400,000'.

In fact the latest data from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) shows that there are only 133,376 traditional apprentices currently in training.
The figure that the Liberal Party uses in the advertisement is misleading because it includes short-term trainees as well as traditional four-year trade apprenticeships.
Of the 416,800 total participants in the Federal Government's so-called 'New Apprenticeships' program, 175,473 (42%) are engaged in training of less than two years duration.
The so-called 'apprenticeships' that the ad refers to includes short-term traineeships in a fast food chain, local fish and chip shop, a juice bar, or bakery franchise.

These traineeships have no structured training and many (27%) are taken up by existing workers - leading to suggestions that some employers are rorting the scheme to obtain a wage subsidy.
Traditional trades apprenticeships for plumbers, electricians, carpenters, boilermakers, mechanics and chefs take up to four years and include structured training as well as substantial on-the-job experience.
It is wrong for John Howard and Peter Costello to pretend that a 12 or 18 month traineeship for a kitchenhand in a fast food outlet is a real apprenticeship.

That's like saying there is no difference between a fast food worker flipping burgers and a cordon bleu chef or no difference between a First Aid course and a medical degree.

The Liberal Party advertisement is dishonest in suggesting the Howard Government is serious about encouraging more apprenticeships. The facts are:
There is an annual shortage of around 25,000 traditional trades apprentices and this skills shortage is set to cost the economy up to $9 billion over the next ten years thanks to government inaction in this area.

The Government's 'New apprenticeships' program is seriously flawed with incentives biased against employers prepared to invest in a full four-year apprenticeship - the same $4125 incentive is also given for a one-year trainee.
Poor wages for apprentices is a problem that the Howard Government has failed to address. An 18 year old entering an apprenticeship in the manufacturing industry is paid only $6.20 an hour in their first year while a fast food trainee flipping burgers starts out on up to $8.70 an hour - an extra $100 a week.
The Liberal Party should immediately withdraw the advertisement and correct its figures."