Mr. Roe described the budget as a good first effort from Treasurer Wayne Swan, but went on to caution the government that the investments that they have made in the budget need to deliver at the coalface and that simply spending more money will not necessarily deliver the results that the Australian community needed.

Mr. Roe called for more attention to be paid to the skills needs of Australia's manufacturing and engineering industries to ensure that productivity can be rebuilt on a foundation of high skills and high wages.

"Australia's skills and workforce development systems are not in good shape. Strategically important industries such as manufacturing, in all its forms, are not getting the attention they deserve." Mr Roe said.

"More money going into training places is one thing, but the real test is in getting more people completing trade and higher level qualifications and putting their skills to work in skills shortage areas of the economy like manufacturing so we can build a foundation for productivity and prosperity after the mining boom," he said.

"We welcome the budget initiatives but note that there is much to do to ensure that the additional investments being made produce a real and sustainable impact in the interests of working families, and we are ready to contribute to that task," he said.