Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises the critical role that Trade Training Centres (TTCs) play in introducing young people to vocational education at school and assisting them to achieve vocational education and training (VET) qualifications;

(2) acknowledges that TTCs have enabled schools to provide greater and more diverse opportunities for students completing secondary school;

(3) accepts the important role that TTCs play in ensuring that young people get the vocational skills they require and in conjunction, are able to achieve a secondary school certificate that otherwise may not have been possible;

(4) supports the industry partnerships between registered training organisations, schools and VET providers that have prospered through the introduction of TTCs;

(5) condemns the Government’s $950 million cut to the TTC program; and

(6) urges the Government to honour its commitment to support existing TTCs.

I rise today on this incredibly important motion looking at the critical role that trade training centres play in our school communities. I have had the privilege of visiting a number recently during the break from sittings and have been able to see firsthand just how important these trade training centres are in terms of the opportunities they are giving to young people in our high schools.

I visited Doonside Technical High School, where I was able to see young people working on industry standard machinery and getting vocational education and training skills. I heard from the teachers and from all the young people involved in this training about the jobs it was resulting in. I visited a number of other places where I have seen the good work that has been done as a result of the Trade Training Centre program that Labor put in place. This is providing great vocational education for young people in our schools. It is embedded in our curriculum to ensure that young people who have aptitude for hands-on skills are getting to learn them at school. There are also many who are achieving a VET qualification and going on to TAFE or into a job. I think it is incredibly important to recognise that.

Unfortunately, though, not all schools are going to benefit from the Trade Training Centre program. Despite Tony Abbott saying before the election that there would be no cuts to education—one of the many promises he made—$950 million has been cut from the Trade Training Centre program. Many schools that were planning to apply, that have been working hard to look at what their students and their communities need, have now lost the opportunity to apply for those funds. I have spoken to a number of school principals who are incredibly upset because they had a plan, they had an idea, and now they will not get those funds. In some of the places I visited in Tasmania, there was frustration that the school down the road had the opportunity to get those funds but the school in the next suburb would not have that opportunity.

We have heard often from those opposite about how much they appreciate the trade training centres in their local communities. I hope that members opposite who speak today will reinforce that. I hope the member for Forde will back the nine schools in his electorate that missed out on the opportunity for trade training centres. I hope the member for Mitchell will back the 16 schools in his electorate that will never get the opportunity under the Abbott government to apply for a trade training centre. I hope the member for Herbert will back his 11 schools that will no longer get the opportunity to apply for a trade training centre. And I hope the member for Banks will back the 10 schools in his electorate and argue for them to get the trade training centres they deserve. We will see whether government members will have the guts to stand up for their schools, knowing the great work that has been done at the schools that have been able to get trade training centres. If they do not, then I hope they will stand up in their communities and say to the schools that have never had the opportunity to apply for these trades training centres: 'I agree with the Prime Minister that you should never have the opportunity to apply for these trade training centres.'

The numbers are quite significant. In Western Australia there are 173 schools that will never get the opportunity; New South Wales, 496 schools; South Australia, 83 schools; Victoria, 354 schools; and Queensland, 292 schools. That is very disappointing when you see what great work has been done. So it is time for the government to reconsider this policy. They need to not only reconsider their broken promise of no cuts to education—$950 million is a big cut—but look at the future of our young people. We are seeing unemployment figures rising under their watch. It is time for them to stop cutting programs and funds that were actually making a difference, that were connecting young people with skills and, importantly, ensuring there was a connection with industry as well. So it is time for those on the opposite side, those on the backbench, to stand up for their local communities and demand that the Prime Minister reverse this nasty cut.

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