Phillip Barresi (Deakin, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to be able to speak on the Australian Technical Colleges (Flexibility in Achieving Australia’s Skills Needs) Amendment Bill 2006 because it really does represent a debate on learning—and we should be talking about what we have learnt when it comes to education. One thing that we have learnt is that the one-size-fits-all approach to education does not work and it is one of the reasons why this government has recognised the need to reintroduce an emphasis in our secondary education system on vocational training and education.

One of the things that you hear often from parents and, even more so, from grandparents is their lament about the demise of the technical skills system around this country. Through the Australian technical colleges model we are emphasising once again that one size really does not fit all and that we need to address the skills shortage and the aspirations of those students who do not want to go on to university or higher tertiary education. We have learnt that Australian students and their families do want a choice when it comes to education and the ATCs are all about that ability to choose—the ability of young Australians to choose a course of study that interests them and which they can pursue. This choice and variety has been a success, even though members opposite like to talk down the ATC model that this government has introduced.

The main purpose of this bill, though, is to allow the movement of funds forward for the establishment of the ATCs. Increased funding is needed for 2006 and 2007 and reflects this government’s achievements in establishing ATCs sooner than originally anticipated. The colleges have received widespread community and industry support, even though those opposite keep talking down the program. The enthusiasm received for the program has generated the establishment of the ATCs ahead of time. Currently the government is in a position where 22 of 25 colleges have been announced, five colleges are operating in 2006 with almost 300 students and at least 20 colleges are expected to be operational in 2007. When fully operational, the 25 Australian technical colleges will have at least 7,500 students each year.

The member for Prospect went on and cited figures about the skills shortages and how the ATCs, even in their full capacity, will be covering a mere drop in the ocean in terms of those who are needed to make up the shortfall in skills. This is a very convenient argument by those on the other side, who do not realise that this government approaches issues of this kind in a multifaceted way. The ATCs are just one part of that policy prong to address skills shortages.

I am particularly pleased to be able to speak on this bill. I will declare I have a vested interest: one of those ATCs is in my electorate; it is located in Ringwood. I have become fully aware from talking to parents, industry groups and businesses in the area that there really is a demand for technical colleges. The eastern suburbs based ATC is based at Ringwood Secondary College in my electorate of Deakin. I take particular pride in being able to say that is one of the achievements that this government has been able to introduce for the benefit of the people in the eastern suburbs. It is currently offering courses in automotive, cabinet-making and electrotechnical industry trades. At present, the eastern Melbourne ATC has only 13 students. I recognise that that is a small number. There are nine students in cabinet-making, three in electrical trades and courses and one in the automotive trades. And there has been criticism from those opposite that the take-up rate for enrolments has not been quick enough or great enough. I would like to remind members in this place that it was the ALP that held up the funding agreements in the Senate until October 2005. This led to a delay in the establishment of localised funding agreements until the very end of the 2005 school year, too late to allow substantial enrolment in the courses. Of course, what the ALP conveniently will then say is that the delay—which they created—and the failure of the enrolments to be at a higher level are indications that the ATCs are not supported and are a failure. That certainly is a long way from the truth.

Earlier in the debate the member for Hotham stood up in this place and criticised work being done at the eastern suburbs based ATC. The member went on to tell the House that he was not entirely sure what was being done at the ATC in Ringwood and its subsidiary campus in Ferntree Gully. He formed this opinion—this is strange for someone who used to be the Leader of the Opposition—because the information he was seeking did not appear on the ATC’s website. I have advice for the former Leader of the Opposition, the member for Hotham: look deeper into the work being done by the ATCs, pick up the phone, make a time to go out there and see them—go and visit Ferntree Gully, go and visit Ringwood, and see what great work is being done. Don’t just take the lazy option, sitting at your desk typing in some sort of a website string to see what they are doing. If he had bothered to pick up the phone and speak to those who are involved in the eastern suburbs based ATC, he would know that considerable progress has been made in this area, progress that will certainly be of great benefit to those students who will be taking up places in the very near future.

I can inform the House and the member for Hotham that the eastern Melbourne ATC is planning a midyear intake to double its student numbers and that all these students are in year 11 and intend to continue their studies next year. The Australian technical college in Ringwood has been an unqualified success. Of the 13 students enrolled this year, 10 are in apprenticeships and three are currently completing their final work experience. It is expected that they will enter apprenticeships next semester. In time and with the additional funding supplied by the government, the Ringwood campus will expand its offerings to include engineering and manufacturing programs. The demand for this training option is one that is real and one that has been demanded by industry in the eastern suburbs.

Even with limited advertising, 60 people attended a recent information night at one of the eastern Melbourne campuses. The ATC in Ringwood is projecting enrolments for 2007 into six training streams on offer with 15 students in each stream. Given the obvious demand, I would not be surprised if the demand were greater than that and the enrolments were higher than the 90 that it envisages.

But the great success of the ATCs is a link between the colleges and the needs of the regions they service. ATCs must operate in a manner that best suits the particular region. ATCs must be a school so that students can gain their year 12 certificates. They must have school based apprenticeships and they must be industry led and relevant to industry needs. Beyond that, it is up to local industry and communities to determine the best model for their region and their students. So it is driven by the local region; it is driven by the local industry. It is managed by those groups and, at the end of the day, it fulfils a need that they have rather than one that has been created and dreamed up by bureaucrats in the city centres.

The courses and trades offered at the technical colleges are tailored to the needs of the community. In consultation with local industry the colleges develop skilled workers who are ready to meet the demands of employment and are well on their way to having a sound skill set for their work. The eastern Melbourne college is clearly committed to working with local industry and, far from talking it down, I would say to members opposite: talk it up, because that is what parents want. Parents want an alternative. Parents are seeking this for their children. They recognise that some of their kids do not want to move on to university—they want a trade; they want to move into an apprenticeship, a traineeship. Often they just need to be given that experience while they are at school to really find out whether or not it is the sort of career that best suits them.

The other thing that the eastern suburbs ATC did this year, for the member for Hotham’s education, is that, by the end of May, it held two industry skill councils with local businesses: one on cabinet-making and the other on electrotechnical industries. At these skill councils a selection of local businesses and professional associations met, reviewed the ATC curriculum and gave direction to the college about industry training needs and the way in which a college could help meet these needs.

ATCs do not exist in educational isolation. As I said earlier on, they form a broader commitment that this government has to ensuring that all Australian students are provided with the support they need to make informed choices about their school and work futures. Recently I was pleased to be able to launch another arm of the support offered to school students in choosing their career and training paths. Career Advice Australia and Eastern Industry Education Partnership will provide a link between students, their career advisers and industry. In fact, Eastern Industry Education Partnership itself is a partner in the consortium that is running the eastern based ATC at the Ringwood Secondary College. I commend the dedicated work of those involved in both of these projects. I firmly believe that they will lead to better informed and more focused students in all school learning areas, not just in the vocational and technical sectors.

To make sure that the ATCs will be centres of excellence, the expectation is that they will employ the best possible staff. The colleges must be able to attract and retain the best teachers available, and their capacity to offer attractive working conditions, such as performance pay, is crucial to their success. To assist ATCs becoming centres of excellence, the $343 million funding that this bill represents is new money. There is no shortfall, as some in the opposition suggest. ATCs are not a duplication of TAFEs, as some in the opposition suggest. To claim this clearly indicates a deliberate distortion of the program. The colleges provide an opportunity for students to stay at school and complete their year 12 while undertaking a school based apprenticeship. I thought this would have been welcomed by those opposite. I thought they would have applauded such an initiative.

Technical colleges are an important part of the Howard government’s approach to meeting our nation-building skills needs. They are an investment in the longer term. But they are not the full picture; they are not all we are doing in addressing our skills needs. These colleges, furthermore, will not charge additional fees. The colleges will be schools—government and non-government. In respect of recurrent schools funding, they will be funded on the same basis as existing schools. Unlike the TAFE system—which is inherently a state based creature—where there are fees, these ATCs will not be charging additional fees.

The member for Prospect got up in this place and said, ‘Why don’t you adopt Labor’s plan of abolishing TAFE fees?’ Labor’s plan to abolish TAFE fees does not have to wait until those opposite come into government. I have news for the members opposite. They do not have to wait until they come into government to abolish TAFE fees. All they have to do is pick up the phone—those who claim they have some sort of special influence in their states—talk to Morris Iemma in New South Wales or to Steve Bracks in my state and say, ‘Please abolish the fees now.’ They can do that now. They do not have to wait until they come into government.

But, if Labor ever comes into government and decides to abolish TAFE fees, I can tell you that a lot of cost shifting will take place, because all it will be doing is abolishing fees that its own mates, its comrades in each of the state governments, are currently presiding over. In fact, in recent times, in the case of New South Wales, they have increased the fees. So do not come in here and say, ‘Adopt our plan.’ Your plan can be implemented today. All you have to do is pick up the phone and put pressure on your state Labor Premiers. Surely the member for Prospect, if he is a man of any great importance in the Sydney area, should be able to do that with a quick phone call to Morris Iemma.

Another thing I would like to touch on is that the approach to technical education that we are introducing through ATCs is recognised as being a success. Even the Victorian and New South Wales governments in recent times have recognised this and have moved from wanting nothing to do with the federal model to developing their own. But, as usual, their option of a technical college is a pale imitation of what we have developed.

The Bracks Labor government in Victoria announced recently that it would provide $32 million for its own version of technical colleges. Here it is, putting up obstacles to the setting up of ATCs—through its education department and through its union affiliates by insisting on certain awards and conditions—while, at the same time, imitating our model but not going all the way. On the face of it, Victoria’s $32 million may sound commendable. But, when you consider that the $32 million is spread across four years and includes the capital development of at least four colleges, that funding is woefully inadequate.

I would like to be in a position to provide to this House more detail about the Victorian model, but I am unable to do so, because, as usual, the Victorian government has not provided information on this policy area. We will have to wait to see such information until some time between now and 25 November, when the state election will be held. The information that the Bracks government has released does not indicate that their model will provide anything new. Their model will provide programs that are already available to every student in a secondary college in Victoria. It is a knee-jerk, populist and reactive policy that serves no-one. But it does recognise, in a strange way, that the federal government’s initiative on ATCs needs to be applauded.

Mr Bracks’s Labor colleague across the border in New South Wales is providing an even weaker response to training needs in his state. Labor Premier Iemma has provided $18 million to be divided among 10 technical schools—and that funding is for four years. We are providing $343 million to establish 24 colleges, which is more than $14 million for every college. The Labor Premier, Morris Iemma, demonstrates his commitment to vocational training by providing the equivalent of around $1.8 million to his training centres.

There is a clear difference between what this government is putting in place and the half measures, half-baked ideas and reactions that have been offered by the Labor Premiers of Victoria and New South Wales. The difference is that the federal model is industry driven and committed to addressing the skills shortages in this country while the states are offering up a supply driven approach to training needs that will do nothing to build skills capacities in their states.

I ask this House and the people in my electorate to remember the simple difference of $1.8 million over four years to 10 centres as opposed to the real commitment of $343 million for 24 colleges. One of those colleges is at the Ringwood Secondary College, the same college where I had great pride a number of years ago to have an automotive and manufacturing technology skills centre established. I paid credit to the then Minister for Education, Science and Training, Brendan Nelson, for doing that, and I do so again. The reason I say that is that the establishment of that skills centre was thwarted at every attempt by the education department. They did not want it. The local industry put up a proposal to the state government to set it up, and the state government not only refused to take their proposal to ANTA to get funding but also ignored the entire eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Not one skills centre was proposed and funded in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne until Minister Brendan Nelson intervened and said, ‘This is a joke; there are real skills needs there.’ Information provided by industry indicated a skills need and we set up the automotive manufacturing skills centre. The ATC in Ringwood complements that earlier initiative.

This bill represents a real commitment by the federal government to skills training. It provides an alternative to the needs and demands of young people in the electorate. It provides them with an opportunity to learn a trade while they are at school and still do their year 12 certificate and, at the end of the day, it provides them with a career alternative, one which is in high in demand by industry and by the nation. (Time expired)

Debate (on motion by Mr Turnbull) adjourned.

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