Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to acknowledge that this weekend will be a tough weekend for many in my electorate as it is the two-year anniversary since our region was devastated by the October floods in 2022. The communities of Campbells Creek, Castlemaine, Huntly and Heathcote still remember the speed, the volume and the fierceness of the water that flooded into their homes and into their streets. Unfortunately, two years on, some people in these areas are still not back in their homes. Long disputes with insurance companies, problems with planning and the debate about whether to invest your own money to build up higher and build up better are still unresolved.

The Rochester community will come into the Bendigo electorate after the next election, so I took the opportunity during the Elmore Field Days to visit and meet the people of Rochester. They too were devastated by flood on 13 October 2022. All of the town was impacted. Over a thousand homes had water over the floorboards and every home had some flood damage. We all remember the scenes from Rochester. For those who do not live in Victoria, it is very odd for Victoria to flood this way. It is a demonstration of how climate change is impacting our weather patterns and the volume of water we are receiving now and these heavy downpours are not something that our systems can cope with. It is why I'm proud the federal government is working with local government to get proper planning in place to work with these communities so we can mitigate future flood events that may occur because of the impact of climate change.

I am also very concerned to share with the House that in September La Trobe University, which has a campus in my electorate, has announced its decision to close its community planning and development program. This is where many of our local planners come from. It is the eighth university in eight years to stop delivering planning courses and programs, something we should be alarmed about when we're talking about reform to higher education. Right now, in our country, there is a critical shortage of planners in urban and regional areas alike. Our own government's data says 33 per cent of local governments have no planners currently working for them at all. This includes many regional towns. In my own electorate of Bendigo, the City of Greater Bendigo has a constant ad up recruiting local planners. I raise this because without planners we do not have homes; without planners, we do not have roads. Planners are essential not just to this government's commitment but to every government's commitment to solving our nation's housing crisis, to building the infrastructure required to get to net zero and to allow for the growth needed for a Future Made in Australia.

Planning for growth is a growing profession yet our universities are walking away from training the planners required. Jobs and Skills Australia has forecast an almost 20 per cent increase in demand from 2021 to 2026 on current numbers before the fact we deal with they have nowhere to train. These secure well-paid jobs are crucial. These are jobs in local government and state government, with organisations to help get the planning done appropriately, so why are universities—including in my own electorate—cutting and closing down planning courses? What is our university sector up to? Why is it not focused on the skills we need? It is the latest demonstration of how our university sector needs to do better, needs to stop working in silos and start working with Jobs and Skills Australia, with industry and with governments to make sure we get the courses, offer them to students and encourage them to consider a career in areas like planning. This should be the focus.

The universities should be focused on encouraging Australians to enrol in courses like planning. It is not a problem that we will experience just in Bendigo but throughout the country. Higher education is an opportunity. It is an opportunity we want to see afforded to all Australians if they choose to pursue it, but we need to make sure the courses are relevant to the careers that we have available in this country.

Federation Chamber adjourned at 12:59