Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week the Morrison government broadened the horizons of the people of Longman by providing more pathways into employment and, at the same time, has kept the art of welding alive and assisted welding apprentices and qualified welders to keep developing their skills in an ever-changing world. The coalition government provided $750,000 to establish an Augmented Reality Welder Training Centre in Caboolture to train and upskill local welding apprentices and workers. This new state-of-the-art facility, based at the TAFE college campus in Caboolture, was officially opened by Assistant Minister for Vocational Education, Training and Apprenticeships, the Hon. Steve Irons MP, last Tuesday. The coalition government has collaborated with Weld Australia to invest in this facility, which will include 10 welding simulators and has the capacity to train up to 200 workers each year to international welding standards. These are welding simulators rather than actual welders, although having used one at the opening on Tuesday—very badly—they react and sound like the real deal. The industry authority, Weld Australia, is right behind them. The benefits are that there are no health and safety issues to worry about, there is a monetary and environmental saving aspect as well, and all the different types of welding can be simulated on these devices.

Industry experts tell us that companies that are using robotic devices in many trades, including welding, are looking for qualified tradesmen who have completed on-the-job apprenticeships, who will operate these robots, because they are simply the best at it—nothing replaces gut feeling.