Kay Hull (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is. It is a crying shame that this took place and that these people were left behind. The crisis with the skills shortage has not been the making of the Howard or coalition government over the last 10 years; it is a result of the 13 and perhaps more years preceding, not just the former federal Labor government but a mix of coalition and Labor state governments. All parties here are responsible for what has transpired.

There has been an unfair and biased view toward anybody who wanted to enter into a trade or service—and it still exists. It simply still exists. The pay differentiation is absolutely appalling—I will have to find a new word. These young people are doing four years of study in order to qualify and then be put on a very low wage. Where are the unions on all of these issues?

There is a need for us to cooperatively work as a nation—state and Commonwealth—to ensure that our students are given all of the choices and options available as part of their prevocational guidance in their school years. Schools should not just concentrate on how their HSC results or their academic excellence stack up when their results are advertised each year. More than 70 per cent of children in all schools—whether they be state or private schools—need unqualified attention, and they deserve this. They should not be put at the back of the classroom if they want to pursue a trade or service course in, say, year 10. They should not be discounted as not being able to succeed.

I have said it time and time again in this House: if you did a poll or a survey of the owner-operators of small to medium businesses and of many large businesses across Australia, you would find that few of them would have a degree. Few owner-operators would have been through a university, yet they are contributing to this nation’s economic worth. It is time that they were recognised. When they are out at a social gathering and the issue of education and degrees comes up, it is time that they were not made to feel less worthy because they do not possess one. It is time they were recognised for the valuable nation building that they put in place.

I find it surprising when I hear debate and discussion from the opposing side in this House, because they are supposed to be the supporters and representatives of these hard-pressed workers out there in the community. Let me tell you that they fall short, and so does everybody else, as far as I am concerned, in raising the worthiness of people in Australia who have done very worthy courses in trades and services and who have come out with a certificate of qualification. I only have to look at the business that I was in and at the work of the panel beaters there to say that these guys are pure geniuses. What came into the workshop was a mangled mess and what went out was better than a new vehicle coming off a showroom floor. Yet, are they recognised? No, they are not. They are made to feel as though they are not worthy when they are out in a social situation because they do not hold the fundamental university degree. That is sinful.

Finally, what we have is recognition—belated, but it is happening—and I commend the Howard-Vaile government and the minister for putting forth these technical colleges. There has been a crying need for this to take place. The measures will be very positive in rephasing our funding to meet the expected expenditure for the Australian technical college initiative in 2006-07 and to introduce some flexibility to move funds across calendar years to match actual expenditure. The establishment of the Australian technical colleges will enable our industries in the Riverina, which are just champing at the bit, to come on board and to start co-sponsoring apprentices and trainees to address the ongoing skills shortage across the Riverina. We have a great legislative framework to roll out these technical colleges.

Whilst I greatly support this bill—and I have been making these wild statements and speeches in the House for about eight years now—I have some concerns about what we have at the moment. I am concerned that I do not have one in the Riverina. I desperately need to establish a technical college in the Riverina—preferably in the western Riverina. The western Riverina has enormous support for the establishment of a technical college. Again I encourage the minister to look at us as a very viable opportunity. I convened a working group representing industry, the community, the education sector, local government and the federal government, with me as its representative. In February 2005 we submitted an expression of interest for a technical college to be located in the western Riverina.

My electorate of Riverina is very enthusiastic about everything. People are very motivated politically; they are a very active electorate and clearly keep me on my toes by demonstrating these things. They are enthusiastic about having an Australian technical college in their region. Like other areas across Australia, the Riverina continues to endure severe skill shortages, which are impacting on our future growth and development opportunities. Recently, I saw it reported that the government had threatened to terminate proposals for colleges in Dubbo, Lismore-Ballina and Queanbeyan due to a lack of community support. I felt quite enraged by this, because here I am out in the western Riverina, ready to roll, ready to go and saying to the minister, ‘Choose me, choose me, choose me.’ My people are absolutely devoted to getting one of these colleges up and running.

I am constantly approached by constituents in my electorate, particularly business owners and employers in the western Riverina, to help them. They are struggling and are very desperate to find skilled and non-skilled workers. There is a need for non-skilled workers out there as well. Whilst I talk about trades and services and people being involved, the world cannot go on without non-skilled workers. They need to be recognised and they need to be valued. They have so much to contribute.

I think that the bill before this House will eventually enable employers in my electorate to attract skilled staff into the electorate, particularly if they have a technical college that they can be a part of and cooperatively use to enable them to part-train people while they are in school. Those who are currently training apprentices often lose their staff to people who are unwilling to train and they poach staff. Worst of all, when our young people move away from our electorate, there are no opportunities or they are not given options through the education system. It is time for the education system to provide our children with all opportunities and all options for employment—not just the sexy ones but the ones out there that are needed to keep our regions strong.

The Riverina has worked tirelessly over the last 10 years to address our skills shortages. Some of our initiatives introduced in the region during the 10 years include the Griffith Enterprise Network, Career on a Plate, the Regional Skilled Migration Project Officer, the Western Riverina Higher Education Project, MIA Backpackers and Harvest Labour Study, the C Change Bureau, Country Week and Griffith and District Schools TAFE Link Day.

Right across the other areas of my electorate you see the Riverina TAFE working tirelessly to ensure that there is delivery of workforce participants with the appropriate accreditations to be able to enter into many of these careers in order to give employers an opportunity. An Australian technical college, particularly in the western Riverina, would offer industry an opportunity to sponsor their students. By doing so, industry would then be encouraged to become involved and take an interest in training and student development. Local industry has signalled its support for such a proposal and is very keen to become involved. We had a Leaders in Careers forum in Griffith. This forum attracted approximately 70 industry representatives and has resulted in the establishment of the Griffith Enterprise Network, primarily attended by local industry and training providers to try to develop a pathway to enable our young people to get gainful employment and career opportunities in our local region rather than export our very good local children.

Recently, a local job and training expo was run by Leeton-Narrandera LYNKS Program. It was a very good program and it attracted 84 businesses which showcased their local job opportunities to prospective students. A few weeks ago I launched the Compact program in Wagga Wagga. Helen Renshaw and her team are doing an absolutely extraordinary job in giving our students an opportunity to understand where their career paths might take them. One of the young girls who spoke on that morning succinctly addressed and put in perspective how important this program is that has been funded by the Howard-Vaile government. She has had a variety of placements within businesses and she does not know what she wants to do when she finishes her schooling. But what she does know is that she has had opportunities to experience businesses first-hand to assist her in making those choices. The Compact program is an excellent program. The leaders and providers are absolutely committed to the children of the Riverina and to giving them a choice.

The technical colleges are a great initiative, as I have said. There is a sincere need for me to attract a technical college. When I looked at the state proposal to roll out these state trades schools, I thought it provided a good opportunity for us to look together at how we can offer real choices to the children of the Riverina and beyond, particularly those in rural, regional and remote areas, so they can gain experience in a trade, service or workforce. I think it would be a very good idea if the state looked at how they could work cooperatively with the Commonwealth on their intention to roll out trades schools, rather than put these colleges down.

There is a desperate need for the state training organisations and apprenticeship boards to start looking at the way apprenticeships are delivered. In the 30 years that I have been involved in a trade and in the delivery of training and indentureships to apprentices there has been no change in the way in which apprenticeships are delivered, but there has been an absolute change in the way in which we now perform our duties. For apprentices, there is still a four-year mandatory period to qualify while they are on very low wages. Then when they do qualify they move on to equally low wages. There is a need for the apprenticeship boards to have a look at this and say, ‘We believe that you can complete a trade and a qualification in two years.’ There is no reason why an apprentice has to do four years. There is no reason why they should be deterred from taking on a valuable trade that they can operate in their own business in future. They can do that adequately in two years. Training and delivery practices have changed vastly over the years, yet the apprenticeship boards have never kept up with the changes. They keep on doing things in the same old way, deterring our children from having opportunities to meaningfully obtain a trade certificate in any vocation they choose and to go on and establish their own business and employ people. That is what people do in trades and services. (Time expired)

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