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The Nationals unveil Tradie Support Plan for Eastern Victoria, targeting skills shortages, apprenticeship costs and toll expenses

The Nationals have announced a tradie support plan featuring apprentice training subsidies, 10 technical colleges for 5,000 students, and a $50 weekly toll cap, aiming to address skills shortages and support eastern Victoria businesses.

By news@gippsland - 16th October 2026 - Back to News

Tradies in eastern Victoria will benefit from new support measures under a Nationals Government, following a series of major announcements this week. The Nationals’ trade plan will support workers at every stage of their career, from attracting more apprentices into the workforce to expanding technical education and reducing the cost of getting to work.

Melina Bath says addressing Victoria’s tradie shortage through stronger vocational pathways is vital to supporting small businesses, housing, infrastructure, productivity and economic growth

Victoria’s tradie shortage

Member for Eastern Victoria, Melina Bath said Victoria was facing a serious skills shortage and more needed to be done to strengthen vocational pathways and encourage more people to take up a trade. "Our tradies are essential for supporting small businesses and building our economy."

"Victoria’s shortage of skilled tradies is not just a workforce challenge, it’s an economic challenge that is holding back productivity, housing construction, infrastructure delivery and business growth across the state. Tradies play a critical role in everyday life, building our homes, maintaining our roads, supporting local businesses and helping put food on our tables," said Ms Bath.

Nationals unveil tradie plan

The Nationals’ tradie plan includes:

• New Accelerating Apprenticeships Fund to cover 50 per cent of off-the-job training costs for apprentices, reducing the financial burden on small businesses
• Ten new Technical Colleges, providing 5,000 secondary students with hands-on training in high-demand trades such as plumbing, electrical and carpentry
• $50 a week toll cap for two years from 1 July 2027, covering cars, light commercial vehicles and small business fleets of up to five vehicles

Ms Bath said investing in tradies would help address Latrobe-Gippsland’s youth unemployment rate of 10.5 per cent while boosting workforce participation among young people, which at 58.6 per cent is 9.2 percentage points below the Victorian average.

Reducing apprenticeship costs

Ms Bath said, "With small businesses struggling with rising costs, our plan will remove employment barriers by halving the cost of employing and training apprentices. "Not every

young person wants to go to university - we need alternate pathways into rewarding trade careers that meet eastern Victoria’s future workforce needs. Whether you’re a school leaver or looking for a career change, our plan will make it easier to start a trade career and gain valuable skills."

The Nationals’ apprenticeship plan represents a $337 million investment over eight years and will be funded through more than $24 billion in identified savings as part of a disciplined and responsible fiscal strategy.

Pictures from Melina Bath MP Facebook page.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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