Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thursday 20 February was a big day for the CQUniversity, especially the Gladstone Marina campus in my electorate. They celebrated the opening of a new trade centre, a hair and beauty training salon, and aged-care training facilities. These are all brand new facilities that we opened. Present was the chancellor of the university, Mr John Abbott, AM; vice-chancellor, Nick Klomp; Professor Owen Nevin, the VC of the Gladstone campus; and chairman of the Gladstone Foundation, Mr Tim Griffin, OAM. Ten million dollars of the funding came from the Australian government, and I thank the government very much for that, while $2.5 million was from CQUniversity funds and $500,000 was from the Gladstone Foundation—a total of $13 million.

The Trades Training Centre is a 3,000-square-metre shed containing workshop rooms—for electrical, autoelectrical and mechanical trades—and new teaching classrooms; an aged-care training facility; and a hair and beauty training salon of 250 square metres. This will help our skill shortage in central Queensland and help to train locals for local jobs.

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