Guy Barnett (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

That is a great shame, as Senator Nash indicates. I totally agree. The other key point I want to make about Labor’s policy is that they want to go back to the bad old days of the unfair dismissal laws. This is my sadness and disappointment on behalf of the small business community across the country. They have finally got rid of the unfair dismissal laws that were set up by the Keating Labor government, and now Kevin Rudd says he wants to go back to those bad old days. I think I know what the small business community are going to say in the lead-up to the election. There will be a clear choice: you either reintroduce the unfair dismissal laws or you retain the job-creating environment in which we operate in Australia today. I wanted to respond to those particular allegations that Senator Sterle made.

One of the key reasons I want to support the bill before us today is that the Tasmanian federal Liberal team has been very supportive of the Australian technical colleges initiative brought in by the Howard government. I want to acknowledge the tremendous work of former minister Gary Hardgrave in getting these colleges up and running around the country. I specifically want to acknowledge my colleagues Michael Ferguson and Mark Baker, the federal Liberal members in Bass and Braddon. They have championed the cause. They have been proud supporters of the colleges nationally, and specifically the ATCs in northern Tasmania and on Tasmania’s north-west coast. Michael Ferguson and Mark Baker worked hard with the business community, the academic community and their local communities to get these colleges established. They made it happen in Tasmania, with the support of the Howard government, Minister Hardgrave and others. They established these colleges and got them up and going. The colleges are now proving to be a great springboard towards a trade career for year 11 and 12 students in Tasmania.

I am a member of the Senate Standing Committee on Employment, Workplace Relations and Education, which is chaired by the Hon. Judith Troeth. That committee recently produced a report on this very bill, which recommended increased funding of $104 million to support Australian technical colleges through to 2009-10. It is a short report but it makes it clear that there is support from all members of the committee for this particular legislation. That is the good news.

We have heard members on the other side oppose the Australian technical colleges and the approach that we are taking, yet on the other hand they are happy to support funding for the technical colleges. Some people might say that is hypocritical. I will leave that for the community and the men and women of Australia to decide.

It is interesting that just this month the Launceston City Council in northern Tasmania has approved the sale of land to allow for the building of an Australian technical college. The Launceston campus of the northern Tasmanian Australian technical college is currently based in a former school building at Riverside in Launceston. The council’s approval for the sale of the land means the college will be built near the historic Inveresk precinct, which is fast becoming a true hub of learning and recreation in Tasmania. The ATC will be surrounded by a campus of the University of Tasmania, including a school of architecture and furniture construction. My understanding is that the university is in support of that.

The university has a great track record. Only two weeks ago, in the Senate budget estimates hearing in Canberra, we were advised that the University of Tasmania is now the third largest employer in Tasmania, with 1,800 staff, and student numbers are expected to grow from 12,500 to 15,000 by 2010 and to 20,000 by 2020. Student numbers were 10,000 back in 2000. The university is making a very important contribution to Tasmania and our economy. By 2020, according to the figures before the Senate committee, the total contribution by UTas to Tasmania’s GSP will be $425 million, or three per cent of total gross state product. It is a quiet achiever doing a good job. I congratulate the university on its growth and support. That is entirely contrary to the views of the other side, which says we have had an attack on tertiary funding and tertiary services in Australian. Of course, that is entirely wrong. There has been a big investment in tertiary education in Australia, and that is proven.

The ATC in Tasmania is up and moving and it is going well. Also at Inveresk is the Queen Victoria Museum, the function centres and York Park—also known as Aurora Stadium—which is the home of Australian Rules football in Tasmania. The move to Inveresk will be another positive step for the northern Tasmanian Australian technical college, which is truly succeeding in the region. The courses are almost completely subscribed, with only a few places left in commercial cookery. This is positive news and it comes in a month when the Labor Party has so stunningly and pathetically vowed to scrap the Australian technical colleges. This is in my view just another example of a party that wants to continue with political point-scoring at the cost of real opportunities for young people and ultimately at the cost of their potential careers.