Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Vanstone, Minister representing the Minister for Vocational and Technical Education. I refer to the government’s election promise to establish 24 technical colleges and recent media reports that some colleges will be scrapped before they are even off the ground. Minister, would you please explain why, as the vocational training minister says, some colleges do not have community support, and why the government is dealing with bidders who cannot satisfy tender requirements?

Amanda Vanstone (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Fielding for the question. I have some information here but I am not sure at first glance that it is precisely what you want. I will give you the information and, to the extent that it does not address what you want, I will ask the minister if he has anything he wants to add. The advice that I have is that recent media reports that the ATCs are in crisis and that a number of colleges yet to be announced are in danger of being scrapped is simply not true. The advice I have is that the initiative is progressing very well and we are getting on with the job, and that four of the Australian technical colleges are already open and another is due to open in August this year. The remaining colleges will be opening in 2007 and 2008, as originally anticipated.

This initiative has gone from concept to reality in a very short space of time, and that is because of the significant commitment to it from the community, industry and of course the government. Eleven funding agreements have been signed, with the rest expected to be signed shortly. Local industry and business have been responding because of local skill needs. Local industry, rather than training providers, will be driving the training priorities to ensure that quality training outcomes really are delivered.

Just briefly, some COAG reforms are expected to address any existing barriers to implementing the initiatives in some states, particularly New South Wales and Western Australia. I do not have advice in the material as to what those particular barriers are but, as I say, COAG reforms are expected to resolve that.

In addition, in answer to the question put, it might be worth mentioning that there are some discussions about skill needs in Australia, you will understand, that affect me as the immigration minister. I thought you might like to know, Senator Fielding, that one of the most frequently called upon needs in industry is skilled tradespeople, not necessarily ones having just finished their apprenticeship, but with 10 to 15 years experience. Senator, you might ask yourself who was in government when the people who would have been trained 10 to 15 years ago did not get their training. The answer is the people opposite. The current opposition leader, who now promises to ‘skill Australia’ was, in fact, the Minister for Employment, Education and Training when training for trade apprentices was at an all-time low in this country. If there is a skill gap in training in Australia it is the people opposite who are responsible for it. This government has consistently put more money into trade training. This is the government that recognises that only 30 per cent of young Australians go to universities.

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Paul Calvert (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senators on my left—order!

Amanda Vanstone (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is the government that recognises that only 30 per cent of Australians go to university—a very valuable path—but the other 70 per cent are valuable as well. We put a lot of money into making sure that there is trade training, apprenticeships and traineeships, and Senator Kemp’s brother was responsible for a large amount of the extra funding that went in. So there is a black hole in Australia’s skills base and the black hole was created by Mr Beazley.

Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I thank the minister for the answer. Given that the skills shortage is such an urgent issue and it looks like only four technical colleges have been completed, will there be greater urgency to get the other 20 built faster than is currently planned?

Amanda Vanstone (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do not have direct advice on that but I can assure you, from the material that I have looked at, that of course we want to proceed as rapidly as we can with this initiative of the Australian technical colleges because we perceive the need for there to be more training. I only wish, Senator, that more people on the other side of this chamber took the interest that you do in training young Australians, and that we did not have people on the other side in the other chamber complaining about 13 Chinese welders. It is not because they are welders that they are complaining, it is because they are Chinese, and they are saying that Australians have been laid off in order to keep Chinese welders on. In fact, the Australians who were laid off were casual workers and the Chinese people who were brought in have desperately needed skills for a company that is one of the best training companies in Australia—one of the best. It trains lots of apprentices, has lots of traineeships and employs lots of Australians in Ballarat. (Time expired)

Paul Calvert (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! There is too much noise on both sides of the chamber. I ask you to come to order.