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Questions Without Notice Questions without notice are asked of Ministers and answered during Question Time.
Queensland Training Awards; Vocational Education and Training |
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| Posted by Administrator (admin) on May 11 2005 |
| Questions Without Notice >> |
Mr LAWLOR: My question is directed to the Minister for Employment, Training and Industrial Relations. I understand that the minister has some good news on nominations for the 2005 Queensland Training Awards, our showcase for outstanding vocational education and training performers. However, I understand that the news is not so good with regard to the federal government budget and what it means for the nation's skills crisis. Can the minister please enlighten the House?
Mr BARTON: I thank the member for the question. He always takes a great deal of interest in the vocational training field. This is the 44th year of the Queensland Training Awards. I want to reveal that we have an outstanding 766 nominations across 14 categories. People who are involved in vocational education are coming forward to nominate for these training awards. It also reflects the comprehensive range of career options available to apprentices and trainees in Queensland-a real showcase for vocational education and training. I know that this year we are going to recognise the best of those performers.
Turning to the rest of the question, we would like to have thought before the budget last night that the federal government actually shared our passion for training given some of the statements that have been made ever since the election in October last year. So we had great anticipation in what the Treasurer might bring forward-a grand strategy to overcome Australia's greatest challenge, the nationwide skills shortages. We are still reading the fine print, but I have to say that our initial reaction is that we are disappointed, because funding offered by the Commonwealth under the proposed new Commonwealth-state training agreement does not even keep up with inflation in comparison to the last round of funding offered in 2003. Yet the Treasurer is proposing to spend $351 million over the next five years setting up the Australian technical colleges which will provide training for a maximum of 7,200 young people nationally, only 1,200 of those places in Queensland.
This pales into insignificance compared to Queensland's existing commitment to training for young people. We already have here in Queensland over 23,000 young people participating in vocational education and training in schools each year. Approximately 77 per cent of all year 11 and 12 students in state schools enrolled in at least one VET subject in the schools program for 2003. Queensland currently has 6,000 school based apprentices and trainees in training-five times the number that the Commonwealth is suggesting it will be targeting through all of these new colleges. Over 50 per cent of all of the school based apprentices and trainees in Australia are in Queensland. So it is inexcusable for the Commonwealth to waste desperately needed funds in duplicating an already successful system. In fact, I want to stress that, despite the Commonwealth's claims, the states, including this state, put in $3 for every dollar that the Commonwealth puts into vocational education and training. At a time when these shortages threaten the country's economic future, we all needed to be thinking big, not fiddling at the edges. What we are seeing is that the federal government is not prepared to put real additional funds into vocational education and training such as this state is doing. Last changed: [PUBLISHED_DATE] at 12:00 AM
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