Doorstop Interview, Burnie, Tasmania

ANNE URQUHART, MEMBER FOR BRADDON: Thanks very much for being here. My name is Anne Urquhart, I'm the Member for Braddon. And it's fantastic to be here with Minister Giles, and we have Minister Felix Ellis as well, to open this fantastic facility here in Burnie, at the Burnie TAFE at the Centre of Excellence. What it's doing is providing opportunities for students from right across Tasmania to come here and study. But part of that issue about studying is about making sure that they have got good, safe accommodation. It's very difficult, now we know to get good, reliable, safe, affordable accommodation for students to come and learn. This is the most fantastic facility. It's going to house around 24 students, and I understand there's been about 482 students who have used – nights, sorry I should say nights – that have used this facility since it's been ready to go. So it's really great to be here with both ministers today to officially open this building. 

ANDREW GILES, MINISTER FOR SKILLS AND TRAINING: Thanks very much, Anne. It's great to be back here in Burnie with you in this beautiful part of the world, where the sun is shining as it always is. Together with my colleague and friend Felix Ellis, and Josh Dolega, and of course Norman Baker from TasTAFE. A little while ago, the Rockliff Government and the Albanese Government reached agreement to locate a TAFE Centre of Excellence in clean energy right here. And part of that $27 million joint investment was this investment that we're launching today in student accommodation. And it’s part of a really big story that our Government is committed to, to breaking down all of the barriers that are holding back Australians, and particularly Tasmanians from getting the skills they want to be able to do the jobs that we need doing. And there's obviously great opportunities here, whether it's in traditional trades, in agriculture, and increasingly in clean energy. And we see Free TAFE as being an absolute game changer, taking away that cost pressure and pointing people towards those areas in the economy where they have good, secure jobs. But cost isn't the only barrier, particularly in a state like Tasmania, which is very decentralised. I think about my own family, who are from Queenstown originally, and how hard it has been and continues to be to access training opportunities. That's true right around Australia to this day, and that's why this accommodation, the 25 units, and the care that's gone into making sure that accommodation suitable for all students. Particularly those who might be under 18. Particularly those who might face some other challenges, making sure that everyone can focus on their learning journey and break down all the barriers holding them back. This is a really significant commitment for this community, but I think it sends a really strong signal to the whole Tasmanian community and the wider Australian community about the importance of vocational education and training, about the importance of making sure that we're working together to break down all of the barriers that have held them back from the skills that they want to do the jobs that need doing.

And before I hand over to Felix to talk about what this means for him and the government of which he's a member, can I give a real shout out to everyone who's been involved in making this project real? It's fantastic to see how physically attractive this space is, how welcoming it is, and think about how many careers are going to start here, and the contribution they will make in Australia. Over to you, Felix.

FELIX ELLIS, TASMANIAN MINISTER FOR SKILLS AND JOBS: Thanks, Andrew. Firstly, very grateful for the really productive partnership that we've got with the federal government when it comes to delivering the skills, training, and facilities that our learners need here in Tasmania. We want to put the learner at the centre of everything that we do, and in many ways, that's about supporting them to succeed. It could be language and literacy and numeracy support, or it could be a comfortable place to put your head at the end of a long day learning and earning on the tools, and that's what this facility is about. It's about making sure that our learners are supported on the incredible journey that an apprenticeship represents. And not all of those apprenticeships are in town. They might be in the mines on the west coast. They might be as part of the northwest transmission developments, farms in Circular Head, or opportunities on King Island. And those people need a place to stay when they are coming to learn at TAFE, and that's why building this facility is so important.

But more broadly, Burnie is a strategic location for our, some of our most important Centres of Excellence. The Freer Farm Agricultural Centre of Excellence is the leading facility in the state and one of the leading facilities in the country. Our new Northwest Clean Energy Centre of Excellence that's being developed in partnership between the federal and the state government, will be the place where a lot of learners will want to come, so that they can be part of the clean energy future that is driving opportunity right across Tasmania. And so, those people will need a place to stay. There are opportunities here in the north west. In many ways, it's the centre of opportunity for some of the big developments that are coming through in Tasmania. So backing those learners to get a job here, to move here, and to learn here is super important for the future of the state.

I want to thank everyone that's been a part of this development. It's important that we work in partnership to deliver these kind of facilities and opportunities. And right here on the Burnie campus, we have our Youth to Independence facility for younger learners. We've got our new student residence, Hellyer College, and the investment that we're seeing in the TasTAFE Burnie Campus and across Freer Farm. So these are important ways that we're backing in our learners to succeed for the future. And so, with that, I might pass over to you, Norm.

NORMAN BAKER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, TASTAFE: Thank you, Minister. As the CEO of TasTAFE, we're thrilled to be opening the facility today with the support of both the state and federal governments. As the Minister highlighted, the facility provides so many opportunities for a range of learners from across the state to undertake training. The facility itself will provide 25 beds or rooms, and students will live in these rooms as they undertake their apprenticeships and come in for their block release. We know that this region is growing rapidly with green energy opportunities, agricultural opportunities, as well as mining opportunities, and to support the individuals undertake training to improve their lot in life, as well as to support the local communities and the economy as a whole, is something we're incredibly proud of.

JOURNALIST: So, there's this investment here for new rooms, and as you said, that's one of the barriers to accessing TAFE. Another one of the barriers is presumably having the staff, having the funding. You still need to find $45 million in savings over the next few years. How are you going to be able to continue to grow and increase opportunities here in Burnie while trying to find such large amounts of savings?

ELLIS: We're working through important investments for the future of TAFE. And of course, it's important that we continue to be financially sustainable. We're doing our part when it comes to TAFE, just as we are doing right across government. It's important that we are delivering financial sustainability for Tasmanians, and that's what we're seeking to do, while also continuing to grow the opportunities for learners. There's opportunities to make savings on the back end while we continue to invest in these services that are so important for people.

JOURNALIST: Those savings will involve job cuts, though. You able to say how many jobs will need to be cut to make those savings?

ELLIS: Obviously, we've tabled information about some of those savings that we've worked through, and more broadly, we're continuing to invest in those frontline parts of TAFE that can continue to support our learners. I think most people that have worked in small business, for example, would understand that government has opportunities to continue to do things better, more efficiently, and more productively. So that's what we're working towards, financial sustainability on the back end so that we can continue to deliver those frontline services. And you can see right here our intent, where we're investing substantially in new student residences and a new Northwest Clean Energy Centre of Excellence.

JOURNALIST: Very low rental vacancy rate in the northwest. We've got the [indistinct] development happening at the uni. We've got this, but are you concerned the workers won't have anywhere to live and will have to leave the coast once they exit TAFE or education?

ELLIS: Yeah. Look, so we need to build more on the northwest coast, and that is exactly the kind of challenges that we want to be addressing, the challenges of growth and opportunity, whether that's more apprentices, more homes, and more jobs, are exactly the kind of challenges that we want to be addressing. Tasmania, in the past, has been stuck with the challenges of decay and decline, and as we're looking to transform our economy and the opportunities within it, of course that brings growing pressures. But again, delivering more homes and more student residences and more apprenticeships are exactly the kind of challenges that we want to be working towards.

ENDS