In the media
The Canberra Times
Teal independents fear the jobs and skills summit is being railroaded into a narrow, union-led debate about wages bargaining, which is overshadowing other possible solutions to the problems facing businesses and workers.
North Sydney MP Kylea Tink was concerned about the focus on bargaining, which she argued wasn't the biggest problem which needed to be fixed.
"My key message around this is this problem is much more challenging than one single solution - and bargaining is not going to solve it," she said.
She said the debate needed to encompass everything from housing affordability, to luring workers to Australia and removing barriers which prevented highly-qualified migrants from working in their chosen profession after they arrived.
Ms Tink said the federal government must steer a national approach to tackling workforce shortages, as she expressed alarm at a Victorian government plan to pay the university fees of aspiring nurses and midwives to help ease workforce pressures in its state's health system.
"I think that's really counterproductive to a healthy national future and to me that reflects the worst of the downside of our federated model," she said
"You know, we can't have the states competing against each other for talent and competency. We need to address this as a nation.
"We need federal leadership when it comes to the tertiary structure, and having states move ahead of that federal leadership creates a problem for us as a nation."
Other relevant posts
ABC Mornings Post-Budget Panel
ABC Radio Mornings, 26 March 2025
Kylea speaks with host Kathryn Robinson and Fowler's Dai Le MP about the 2025 Federal Budget, describing the government's headline-grabbing tax breaks as a "very tiny, very small green shoot" that indicates that Labor may be prepared to begin to consider larger scale tax reform. When asked about the upcoming election, Kylea reiterates her commitment to the community independent movement: "We need everyday Australians stepping up ... to bring their real-life, lived experience into Parliament House, because it's only when you have that experience that you understand the impact that some of these reforms will have."
Fairy Bread: A Bread & Butter Budget Sprinkled with Sugar Hits
Media Statement, 26 March 2025
The 2025 Federal budget is a classic bread and butter budget that focuses on the bare basics but lacks ambition. This time however, it’s more like fairy bread in that it’s sprinkled with a few sugar hits that offer temporary relief for some but no long term, lasting benefits.
The Coalition’s attack on the climate authority is a cynical attempt to put ideology over facts – it must be called out
The Guardian, 27 February 2025
On the Coalition's attack on the Climate Change Authority, Kylea writes: "As my grandmother used to say: we are all entitled to our own opinions. But we are not entitled to our own facts."
When does bipartisanship happen? When mutual self-interest is served
The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 February 2025
Economics editor Ross Gittins has described a bipartisan deal on electoral reform as “collusion”, saying the major parties have passed reforms that “advance their interests at the expense of the voters.” He says a minority government would allow independents to push for “braver policies in return for keeping the minority government in power. Not such a bad arrangement.”
‘Swimming in debt’: Sydney’s $14 billion student loan burden
The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 February 2025
New data shows that North Sydney is region with the 4th highest number of students with HELP debt (44,030).
The 12 teal battlegrounds to watch out for this election
Australian Financial Review, 26 February 2025
After the wave of independents that swept the 2022 election, here are the 35 community-backed independents to watch out for as we head towards the polls.
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