Australia is facing a death by degree.
For decades we’ve pushed the idea that university is the only path to success. Trades were quietly demoted and apprenticeship adoption collapsed. Vocational training withered on the vine. And now, the very skills we need to keep the country functioning—to build, wire, weld, and repair—are in critical short supply.
We’ve ended up with a generation buried in debt, armed with paper credentials, but lacking tools, purpose, and the ability to think critically.
A mix of social pressure, school messaging, and government policy has steered teenagers into academic pathways—often even when a trade would serve them and society far better.
The result? A bloated university sector, overrun with ideological groupthink, identity politics and underwhelming outcomes.
Young Australians were promised opportunity but were handed certificates, conformity, a massive student debt, and a cost of living crisis.
Nowhere is the impact clearer than in the housing crisis we’re now facing.
We simply don’t have enough skilled tradies to build the homes we need. Apprenticeship numbers continue to fall. Build times blow out. Costs soar. And rather than address the underlying problem, the government reaches for its favourite fallback: mass immigration.
But every migrant (and often their family) needs somewhere to live too. So we import workers to fill the skills shortage—which only deepens the housing shortage.
A government-created problem, followed by a "non-solution" from the same bureaucracy - one that happens to conveniently align with the globalist playbook.
This is what happens when a nation allows ideology to take priority over merit. When education becomes a political project, real skills are sacrificed in the name of abstract ideals.
Australia has a leadership crisis. And not just a failure of competence — a failure of allegiance.
At this point, it’s not just that our leaders are getting it wrong — it’s that we no longer know who they’re actually working for.
We need leaders who put Australia first. Who build for the future rather than outsource it. Who value real work, real skills, and real sovereignty.
We need to stop pretending this is progress and reverse course. It’s time to train our own with practical, real-world skills — and rebuild what’s been dismantled.
Comms Check
In Print
The Mount Barker Courier published a condensed version of this letter on 25 June 2025. Here's how it ran in the paper:
Disclaimer:
All views expressed are the personal views of Darren Kelly. They are independent of any official role or organisation and reflect an ongoing commitment to open discussion and democratic integrity.