Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The incorporated speech read as follows—

I rise in the chamber today to regarding the Australian Technical Colleges (Flexibility in Achieving Australia’s Skills Needs) Amendment Bill, 2007.

As a growing body of evidence shows, long-term social and economic outcomes are significantly influenced by the investment that nations make in the education and training of their people.

On measures of pre-school, school, vocational and tertiary education research, Australia has fallen well behind its competitors. We need an education revolution. We must lift the quantity of investment in education and the quality of education outcomes.

We cannot afford to waste the talent and potential of any Australian. We must set for ourselves a new national vision—for Australia to become the most educated country, the most skilled economy and the best trained workforce in the world.

Labor believes that Australia’s economic prosperity can only be guaranteed by training a highly-skilled workforce. Vocational education and training helps Australians develop skills to obtain and perform effectively in secure, sustainable and satisfying employment, and to use those skills to ensure our national economic prosperity. Labor will invest in those skills.

While Labor supports additional expenditure in the critical area of vocational education and training, we recognise that the Australian technical Colleges are a political, duplicative response, and, in essence, do not address the serious skills shortage in Australia.

By the governments own estimates, Australia faces a skills shortage of more than 200,000 skilled workers over the next 5 years. Again, using the Governments own figures, Australian Technical Colleges can’t produce any graduates until 2010.

In order to seriously address the magnitude of the current skills crisis, Australia must focus on the areas of maximum impact, including in TAFE and on the job training.

I wish to reiterate Stephen Smith’s comment that labor DOES NOT oppose implementation by the government of its 2004 election commitment.

But, I wish to make this point clear- After three years and more than half a billion dollars, the Howard Governments Australian Technical Colleges to date have not produced one single graduate.

The cold reality of the Australian Technical Colleges is this:

• There are only 1800 enrolments in the entire country
• These technical colleges are not addressing the skills shortage
• The average cost of the training for each student comes to a staggering $175, 000
• Only one-third of the colleges are currently legally registered to provide training
• And ... they have outsourced the bulk of their training to TAFES and other registered training organisations

Disappointing, but true.

Only a Labor government will take a sensible approach to address the skills shortages in Australia. A Rudd Labor government is committed to utilising the infrastructure and expertise that TAFE can offer.

Furthermore, A Rudd Labor Government will use Vocational education in schools and on the job trades training to address the skills crisis.

While the Howard government is only concerned about getting re-elected by building a network of Australian technical colleges in coalition and marginal seats, Labor is serious about addressing the magnitude of the current skills crisis facing the Australian community.

Labor has announced a 10 year, $2.5 billion trades training centres plan aimed at the 1.2 million students in years 9, 10, 11 and 12 in Australians secondary schools.

As well as providing infrastructure to improve vocational education and trades training in secondary schools, labor has another plan ...

Labor will introduce a job ready certificate for all VET and training-in schools students. This is an initiative that would assess the job readiness of secondary school students engaged in trades and vocational education and training.

Students will obtain the Job Ready Certificate through on the job training placements as part of Labor’s Trades Training Centres in Schools Plan.

The Job Ready Certificate will be a stand alone statement of a student’s readiness for work and will be in addition to a Year 12 Certificate and any separate VET qualification.

The certificate will provide students who complete secondary school with an increased focus and awareness of the skills necessary in the modern workplace.

I believe this is a fresh approach to an area that definitely needs reform.

Federal Labor is committed to making education and training more responsive to the needs of industry. Australia’s ability to meet the growing need for skilled employees across the country is crucial to ensuring our future prosperity.

Labor understands the emerging and ongoing skill shortages faced by business must be addressed. Australia’s skills base can only be secured through a sustained commitment to providing training opportunities for more Australians.

This task cannot be left to government alone. Labor will encourage more businesses to increase their local training programs, rather than turning to temporary skilled migration.

Labor believes that Australia’s skill needs will only be secured through lasting solutions, such as expanded education and training opportunities complemented by a balanced skilled migration program with an emphasis on permanent migration.

Labor supports the development of a genuinely national system of vocational education and training, with increased resources from government and employers for growth and for improved quality. This will include strategies to improve and modernise vocational education and training to provide contemporary programs that meet the changing needs of students, industry and the community.

Labor supports a national training system underpinned by a national qualifications framework, with nationally recognised and portable qualifications, and interstate recognition of the registration of training providers consistent with national registration standards and auditing processes.

Labor is committed to maintaining the integrity of Australian trade qualifications and ensuring that there is an effective and thorough system in place to recognise skills obtained both domestically and overseas, so that qualifications consistent with Australia’s national training system are recognised, including through rigorous and effective trades recognition and skills assessment in the electrical and metal trades.

Labor recognises the important role played by TAFE as the public provider of quality training to assist the government in achieving its policy goals for economic development and social justice, and in meeting the technical and further education needs of the Australian community.

Labor supports a cooperative approach between the Commonwealth, States and Territories to maintain and further develop a high quality, national vocational education and training system built upon nationally agreed objectives, strategies and planning processes.

TAFE has suffered 11 years of funding cuts.

Labor has come up with this plan to rectify the Howard governments neglect.

Its no secret that the Australian technical colleges are not working...

In my home state of Tasmania, the Examiner Newspaper reported that the Launceston Technical College is operating at less than 70% capacity, with only 120 places being filled out of a target of 170.

The Howard government has spent 11 years with their head in the sand. They have failed the young Australians of this country with their complacency. Its high time the Howard government own up to their grave mistakes and take responsibility.

Australia’ ability to meet he growing need for skilled employees across the country is crucial for the future prosperity of the nation. I, like Kevin Rudd, make no apologies for valuing vocational education. I believe a trade certificate is just as good as a university degree. We are facing a serious skills crisis in Australia, and this Bill does little to address that.