❓ The Minister for Training provides an update on the WA Labor government's wage subsidy scheme for apprentices and trainees, highlighting its expansion and positive impact on the construction industry and vocational training enrolments, while criticising the previous government's handling of the TAFE system.
AnsweredQoN 800Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
TRAINING AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION — WAGE
SUBSIDY SCHEME
800. Ms C.M. ROWE to the Minister for Training:
I refer to the WA Labor government's
election commitment to support the employment of an additional 300 apprentices
and trainees across WA.
(1) Can the
minister update the house on the delivery of this initiative, which is helping
to get more homes built in WA?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house how the government's expansion of this
program will provide even more opportunities to Western Australians completing
an apprenticeship?
SUBSIDY SCHEME
800. Ms C.M. ROWE to the Minister for Training:
I refer to the WA Labor government's
election commitment to support the employment of an additional 300 apprentices
and trainees across WA.
(1) Can the
minister update the house on the delivery of this initiative, which is helping
to get more homes built in WA?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house how the government's expansion of this
program will provide even more opportunities to Western Australians completing
an apprenticeship?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I am really pleased to speak about training. At
the start of another week, we made another great announcement about
vocational training in our state. Before I talk about this particular
announcement, what always strikes me when I talk
about vocational training is that the members on the other side of the chamber—the
opposition—have their heads down; they have nothing to say. When they
were in government, they not only did not do anything, but also set the whole
cause backwards. They set our TAFE system backwards, they set our vocational
training system backwards and they sent a message that saw 25 000 fewer
enrolments as a result of their management of the vocational training system.
It was outrageous. We are now paying the price. We are continually in catch-up
to try to get enough people into vocational training.
We are doing a great job, and this
announcement is a really good example of it. It was a $21.5 million
announcement to expand the group training organisations subsidy scheme,
particularly focused on the housing and commercial construction industry, in
which, as we know, there is huge demand. The previous announcement was for 300
places, which has the effect of fully subsidising those apprentices. Small and
medium-sized businesses can take on an apprentice in housing or commercial
construction and know that the wages of
those apprentices will be fully subsidised. We could not be more generous. We
had 300 places , of which 150 were made available to private industry and
were taken up very quickly. We just announced another 150 places, which will
take effect next year. It is an incredibly generous scheme. We are really
listening to industry, which is saying that the big pinch point in delivering
housing is that we need skilled workers. Of course, we want to train as many
local people to have those skills as we can.
The 300 places that I talked about
under the previous scheme are fully subscribed. Thirty-nine of those places
were picked up in regional Western Australia. It is such a good story about
training local people for local jobs to get houses built, to get construction
humming and to make sure that locals are filling those positions.
Another
part of that same announcement, after listening to our partners in industry and
in the private sector, came about as a result of the funds available
from the construction and training fund. The $5 million pilot program will make
money available for private registered training organisations to assist with
their infrastructure builds. This is not
something that the government would usually fund because they are private training organisations, but they are also feeling the pressure from such huge
demand in the training sector. This pilot scheme will see $5 million made
available to private RTOs.
There are so many good examples of
what we are doing in training. A great one involved the member for Thornlie, the honourable—sorry, Chris
Tallentire. I think of you highly, member for Thornlie, but you are not
quite honourable! The member for Thornlie and I went out to South Metropolitan
TAFE's Thornlie campus, because
Barminco had just donated a Sandvik underground truck. This is a huge piece of
machinery used for underground mining, as the name implies. It would
cost $1.8 million to replace this piece of equipment. Obviously, it had come to
the end of its life on the mines.
As a demonstration of Barminco's
commitment to our training system and to South Metropolitan TAFE, it spent $50 000 making that piece of equipment
good. I met some of the apprentices out there, who are doing fantastic
work. They will be working on that piece of equipment doing diagnostic repairs,
servicing and maintenance of various systems on one of those big pieces of
machinery—hydraulics, brakes, steering, engine, driveline and
electrical systems. I met 20-year-old Jay, who is in the second year of his
apprenticeship. He was working on suspensions this afternoon. I imagine that
for those working underground, it would be a handy part of the operating system
to have working properly.
That
is the sort of partnership we have with industry. It understands that our TAFEs—our
vocational training systems—work hand in hand with employers in
training up the next round of employees who are so sorely needed. For instance, Barminco employs 92
apprentices and trainees, including 70 heavy-duty mechanical apprentices. I thank Barminco for the donation. I thank
the people at South Metro TAFE's Thornlie campus , who are doing
such good work. I look forward to seeing those apprentices take up their places
in the housing and commercial construction industry.
the start of another week, we made another great announcement about
vocational training in our state. Before I talk about this particular
announcement, what always strikes me when I talk
about vocational training is that the members on the other side of the chamber—the
opposition—have their heads down; they have nothing to say. When they
were in government, they not only did not do anything, but also set the whole
cause backwards. They set our TAFE system backwards, they set our vocational
training system backwards and they sent a message that saw 25 000 fewer
enrolments as a result of their management of the vocational training system.
It was outrageous. We are now paying the price. We are continually in catch-up
to try to get enough people into vocational training.
We are doing a great job, and this
announcement is a really good example of it. It was a $21.5 million
announcement to expand the group training organisations subsidy scheme,
particularly focused on the housing and commercial construction industry, in
which, as we know, there is huge demand. The previous announcement was for 300
places, which has the effect of fully subsidising those apprentices. Small and
medium-sized businesses can take on an apprentice in housing or commercial
construction and know that the wages of
those apprentices will be fully subsidised. We could not be more generous. We
had 300 places , of which 150 were made available to private industry and
were taken up very quickly. We just announced another 150 places, which will
take effect next year. It is an incredibly generous scheme. We are really
listening to industry, which is saying that the big pinch point in delivering
housing is that we need skilled workers. Of course, we want to train as many
local people to have those skills as we can.
The 300 places that I talked about
under the previous scheme are fully subscribed. Thirty-nine of those places
were picked up in regional Western Australia. It is such a good story about
training local people for local jobs to get houses built, to get construction
humming and to make sure that locals are filling those positions.
Another
part of that same announcement, after listening to our partners in industry and
in the private sector, came about as a result of the funds available
from the construction and training fund. The $5 million pilot program will make
money available for private registered training organisations to assist with
their infrastructure builds. This is not
something that the government would usually fund because they are private training organisations, but they are also feeling the pressure from such huge
demand in the training sector. This pilot scheme will see $5 million made
available to private RTOs.
There are so many good examples of
what we are doing in training. A great one involved the member for Thornlie, the honourable—sorry, Chris
Tallentire. I think of you highly, member for Thornlie, but you are not
quite honourable! The member for Thornlie and I went out to South Metropolitan
TAFE's Thornlie campus, because
Barminco had just donated a Sandvik underground truck. This is a huge piece of
machinery used for underground mining, as the name implies. It would
cost $1.8 million to replace this piece of equipment. Obviously, it had come to
the end of its life on the mines.
As a demonstration of Barminco's
commitment to our training system and to South Metropolitan TAFE, it spent $50 000 making that piece of equipment
good. I met some of the apprentices out there, who are doing fantastic
work. They will be working on that piece of equipment doing diagnostic repairs,
servicing and maintenance of various systems on one of those big pieces of
machinery—hydraulics, brakes, steering, engine, driveline and
electrical systems. I met 20-year-old Jay, who is in the second year of his
apprenticeship. He was working on suspensions this afternoon. I imagine that
for those working underground, it would be a handy part of the operating system
to have working properly.
That
is the sort of partnership we have with industry. It understands that our TAFEs—our
vocational training systems—work hand in hand with employers in
training up the next round of employees who are so sorely needed. For instance, Barminco employs 92
apprentices and trainees, including 70 heavy-duty mechanical apprentices. I thank Barminco for the donation. I thank
the people at South Metro TAFE's Thornlie campus , who are doing
such good work. I look forward to seeing those apprentices take up their places
in the housing and commercial construction industry.
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