Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the western boundary of my electorate sits the Moorabbin campus of Holmesglen TAFE. This campus provides vocational training each year to more than 10,000 people who live in and around my electorate. They provide certificate programs in areas like aged care, allied health and youth work, and they also offer a Bachelor of Nursing program. This Bachelor of Nursing program was something that Holmesglen TAFE fought really hard for. Those of you who know the sector will know that it is quite remarkable for an institution like TAFE to be offering a Bachelor of Nursing, and it was made possible by a policy change by the last Labor government.

Holmesglen, like many TAFEs around Victoria, is under attack from a state Liberal government. The Napthine government has hacked $300 million out of TAFEs around Victoria. The impact in Holmesglen has been that over 100 jobs have been cut; and fees have doubled or, in some instances, have tripled. Young people just cannot afford to pay more for education. Trades training is under attack federally too, with $2 billion cut from trade training centres all over the country and over $1 billion cut from apprenticeship programs. It is all very well for the Abbott government to talk about young people earning or learning; but it is pretty cheap, it is pretty political and, frankly, it is rotten to the core to ask young people to do this while taking away the supports they will need to get into training and to get into jobs. TAFEs provide an incredibly valuable function to our electorate out in Hotham and I fully support their work.