Andrew Robb (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Minister for Vocational and Further Education) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kingston for my first question. I also acknowledge his very strong interest in the successful establishment of the Adelaide South Technical College. The investment by the Howard government in the 25 technical colleges is an emphatic statement that the days when a trade or vocational qualification was deemed second-class are over. We want a nation where a high-quality technical qualification is as prized as a university degree. Our country made a big mistake 20 and 30 years ago when it turned its back on the old system of developing technical skills within technical colleges.

On behalf of the government I am proud to report that, in respect of technical colleges, we have gone from an idea to reality in a very short space of time. It shows that if you get the community and industry behind such an initiative you can move mountains. In that regard, I would like to acknowledge the very significant work of my predecessor, the member for Moreton.

I can report that by Monday of next week 20 of the proposed 25 colleges will have commenced, with another technical college opening in the Pilbara midyear and the remaining four on schedule to open in the early part of next year. The program is well ahead of schedule. It means that, in 2007, some 2,000 students across Australia will attend these technical colleges. We are seeing very high calibre students attracted to the colleges.

It means we are on track not only for 2,000 students this year but for 7½ thousand students in 2009. Through this initiative, the government is supporting the dreams and aspirations of thousands of young Australians and their parents. We are getting on with doing what needs to be done.

Yet what did we hear last weekend from those opposite? The member for Perth announced over the weekend that a Labor government would hand the Australian technical colleges back to the state Labor governments. Handing the colleges back to the states is code for handing them back to the unions. The unions are pulling the strings on this matter.

The unions will insist that the employers involved be shown the door. As a consequence, the unique and innovative role of training students with skills that are highly tailored to the needs of local employers will collapse. The colleges will disappear if they are handed back to the states. If Labor were to hand back these colleges to the states, history would repeat itself and the status of technical training would be reduced once again to that of a second-class career.

The Australian technical colleges are a major step in elevating the importance of and the interest in technical careers. They are a reality. They have a big role to play, and I urge the Labor Party to show some spine: stand up to the unions and support the dreams and aspirations of thousands of young Australians.

See this speech in context