I agree with Jenny that the New Apprenticeship scheme has failed. It has provided cheap labor for businesses which do not have a labor shortage and attempted to further devalue tradesperson wages by segmenting traditional trade apprenticeships into small certificate units.
Well the big end of town got what they desired in the short term - cheap trainee labor. It is industry and the Howard government's industrial reform agenda that is to blame for the lack of tradespeople. (Contrary to an earlier statement women are in the trades - my daughter is a petite, feminine 20yo 4th yr electrician.)
It is good to hear from Jenny Macklin for she is an asset to the Australian political scene.

Aka,you have no idea.I would prefer to pay a good sub-contractor $330.00 per day,rather than employ an apprentenice for a week on the same amount.There isn't the time or the money for small business on low margins to provide time for instruction.I don't think you people really get it!If a worker is injured in NSW the employer pays the premium and the total cost of the workers comp claim!This can send businesses broke.You can lose your own personal assets! Now unfair dismissal can have the same effect.Why train an apprentice in a dangerous occupation who is likely to be injured.How do you disprove a bad back?There are thousands of false claims.

Business can't just increase revenue on a whim like Govt increases taxes.They either perform or go broke.They provide the efficiency for Govt to collect more taxes.

If you still don't get it,go off to fairy land with Jenny and contemplate your navels.If the Labor Party think like her,they have no chance of winning the next three elections!

Arjay,
I suggest you check your facts for you are basing your arguements on rhetoric and urban myth. Your suggestion that I am in some sort of fairyland etc belies the fact that your comments are too often based on bs and spite. Workers need protection from dangerous work practices and I hope they are successful in getting 'Industrial Manslaughter' listed as a crime.
Intellectual arguement should promote thought, whereas your arguements simply reflect a rather twisted form of reality. I suggest you put your brain into gear before you post comment.
Aka

Aka,this is no urban myth.Just ring workcover and say you are an employer.Ask about the fact that an employer must pay the premium,but also must pay the full amount of the claim in the form of increased premiums over a three year period.It can be hundreds of thousands of dollars.Most employers in NSW don't know this because the Govt never bothered to tell them.How's that for Labor party honesty.Their own public service have blown work cover $2.5 billion into the red and they want private enterprise to pay for it.Most of the little darlings are out on stress leave.It is just another rort to extend their holidays.
Aka,am I making neural connections with your conscious ,thinking brain,or is left wing bubble wrap clouding your perceptions?

Getting a bit worked up there ARJAY.
Your attempts at insults do little to establish your credibility.

Notice that AKA could not refute one of my statements.Anger lacks credibility according to Aka.The business community has good reason to be furious.Bob Carr said he was being short changed by $3 billion out of a total budget of $40 billion pa.Now we have 340,000 public servants in NSW,of which 20,000 they admit to could be retrenched,but they can't because of unfair dismissal and consequent retrenchment payouts.At a conservative $50,000 pa per person this represents one billion dollars per year.Now we have a loss in workers comp of $672 million pa plus all the other excesses of this Govt ,make $3 billion differential between us and Queensland seem a piddling amount.Bob Carr signed off on the present agreement with open eyes that disadvantages NSW.Where has all the money gone Bob?
Where is Bob Carr's credibility?