Skills and Jobs Minister Chris Evans says it is "scandalous" that Opposition Leader Tony Abbott failed to address Australia's skills shortage in his federal budget reply.
Mr Evans told reporters in Perth on Friday that Mr Abbott had made only a "token" reference to the skills challenge, which showed the opposition had "no grip" on the major economic challenges of the nation.
"They've only got slogans, they've got no solutions," he said.
"Nothing that he talked about was costed, but to dismiss training by saying `I'm all in favour of training' with nothing further to say is just scandalous."
In his speech, Mr Abbott said it was a waste to leave young people on the dole and older people on welfare while so many businesses were short staffed.
"I'm all in favour of training, but first things first, the best training is on-the-job," he said.
However, Mr Evans said Mr Abbott did not delve into the matter enough while the federal budget was focused on skills development and training.
"The budget's all about training, skills and education, and we're determined to make sure young Australians get the best possible opportunity to take advantage of the growth in the economy and have high skilled and high wage jobs," he said.
Mr Evans said a $3 billion investment in skills and training initiatives over six years would deliver the skilled workers the economy needed.
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