Press Conference - CIT Woden, Canberra
MEMBER FOR BEAN DAVE SMITH: Well, welcome, to the CIT Woden site. I want to acknowledge we’re on the land of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people. It's such a privilege for me, Dave Smith, the Member for Bean to welcome you all here. Labor governments know that opportunity and access to education is the foundation for economic prosperity for our communities, for individuals, families right across the economy. And you can't find a better example of Labor governments working together in investing in those foundations than CIT Woden. Obviously, this building coming up all around you, as well as the investment in Fee-Free TAFE where we've seen thousands of Australians access Fee-Free TAFE, upskilling their qualifications, saving money but at the same time investing in skills right across the economy. So, it's such a privilege to be here with my incredible colleagues, Minister Giles, the Minister for Skills and Training and also the new ACT Minister for Skills and Training too, Michael Pettersson. So, for a few more words I'll pass to Minister Giles.
MINISTER FOR SKILLS AND TRAINING ANDREW GILES: Thanks very much Dave. It really is great to be here. This is an exciting project, and it speaks to the quality of the partnership between the Albanese Government federally and the Barr Government here in the ACT. I'm thrilled to be here with my great friend Dave Smith, a fantastic local member, the new Minister Michael Pettersson, who's hit the ground absolutely running and most importantly of all, Claudia a worker here who's also a Fee-Free TAFE student who we'll hear her story shortly.
Fee-Free TAFE has been an extraordinary success around the country and particularly in the ACT where more than 6000 Canberrans have got the opportunity to get skills they want in areas we need. And today I'm making an announcement that's going to build on that success. The Albanese Government in partnership with the Barr Government will be funding an additional 340 Fee-Free places targeted at construction because we know that housing construction in particular is such a priority right around the country. We know that Canberrans, young Canberrans and older ones want to get skills to be part of building the 1.2 million houses that we need in Australia. Fee-Free TAFE is changing lives and it's also changing communities. This announcement is another extension of that. But what's really concerning is this is not without its detractors. Right now, there's a bill in the Parliament that will make free TAFE permanent. 100,000 places every year from 2027 would be guaranteed. Shockingly though, Peter Dutton is opposed to this. And even more shocking is the reason. His spokesperson, Sussan Ley, says that Australians, if they don't pay for something, they don't value it. Well, that may be how she sees things, but it's not how Australians, like Claudia see them. Australians have embraced Fee-Free TAFE more than half a million of them because they value the skills it provides, and they value the contribution they are making. At the next election next year, there's going to be a really clear choice when it comes to skills and in particular to free TAFE. Only an Albanese Government will guarantee the continuation of free TAFE. And Michael, I'm really pleased to hand over to you.
ACT MINISTER FOR SKILLS AND TRAINING AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS MICHAEL PETTERSSON: Good morning, Michael Pettersson, Member for Yerrabi and Minister for Skills Training and Industrial Relations here in the ACT. I'd like to acknowledge my lead colleagues as well as Claudia. Welcome to CIT Woden. CIT Woden showcases the very bright future of CIT here in Canberra. I was talking to Mr. Giles yesterday about his visit here today and he was excited to come along and see it underway. But I think he's more excited to come back when it's complete. Semester two 2025, we can walk around, meet and introduce students. They're going to be learning in this state-of-the-art facility. I'm excited because the Albanese Labor Government is investing $1.5 million in Fee-Free TAFE here in the ACT. These placements will support the local construction industry. We know that Canberra is a fast-growing city. We need to build new houses and new infrastructure. Our $14 billion infrastructure pipeline requires more workers to deliver. The key plank of that is to train locals to deliver it, which is why CIT is so proud to deliver Fee-Free TAFE to the ACT Government. This will enable more young Canberrans, more women seeking to work in non-traditional fields, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students as well as job seekers to get the training to enter an industry that is a great one to work in and one that will support the growth of our city. To the 1200 students already undertaking Fee-Free placements each and every year here in the ACT. Keep up the good work and to the thankfully increased number that we will be taking next year, if you are interested, go to the CIT website. I'll hand it over to Claudia for a few words.
GILES: This is your day. Explain what Fee-Free TAFE means to you.
FORMER FEE-FREE TAFE STUDENT CLAUDIA MAHER: Well, Fee-Free TAFE broke down the financial barrier of going back to study. I think I was really fortunate to have been accepted into this course and be studying my Diploma of Building and Construction while also working in construction. You know I'm a firm believer in always upskilling and lifelong learning, so, it's been an amazing opportunity so that, you know, I can still work full time, study. I didn't have to worry about, you know, paying course fees and things like that. So, it really made it, you know, a no-brainer.
JOURNALIST: Yeah, absolutely, do you think you would have made it into the construction industry had it not been for the free TAFE course?
CLAUDIA: I've actually been working in the construction industry for a long time, but I didn't have the mainstream, I guess, schooling. I ended up doing my year 10, 11 and 12 through CIT while working in industry and continually, you know, just learning and working my way up. And then it wasn't until a friend of mine actually told me about Fee-Free TAFE because I always thought I'd go back to formalise my qualification and now I've gotten that opportunity with the program.
JOURNALIST: Would you like to see more support or is covering the course sort of, you know, it's enough to sort of let you balance work and life now and study?
CLAUDIA: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think the teachers are incredible in the course as well. They provide a lot of assistance as well as the Fee-Free TAFE program. So, I think, you know, you guys got it right.
JOURNALIST: Mr. Pettersson, what work are you doing to ensure that if they do get this free course to study here at the CIT, they then stay in the territory to work, given we are facing quite a working shortage?
PETTERSSON: Good question. I think there's multiple points to that. Canberra needs to be a great city to live in and to work in. Part of that is the wages and conditions and the pathways people have in career. It's also to have a liveable city. The advantage that Canberra has over, I think every other city in the country is that we are a liveable city. You get your life back and you get your time back. You live and work here at the ACT. Some of the larger cities really struggle in trying to have that attractive lifestyle that we have here in the ACT. So, I'm confident that people, particularly locals that study here, will want to stay and work.
JOURNALIST: And how are you going to maintain retention in the existing construction industry?
PETTERSSON: Sorry, say that again.
JOURNALIST: How will you maintain retention for people that are working in the industry and the construction industry as we see it?
PETTERSSON: Yeah, there's a lot of responsibility for industry here. The construction industry is a great sector to work in. It's got good wages and conditions and provides lots of career pathways that are varied and interesting, which is why you see so many people working in the construction industry as it is. To have people stay in the industry, we need to make sure that they have positive experiences. There are some issues in the construction industry that will require ongoing work that improving culture, providing the appropriate training, which is what Fee-Free TAFE will do. But we know that this is an issue that will require ongoing monitoring, and we're committed to it because we know we need the workforce to build the houses and infrastructure our growing see needs.
JOURNALIST: Do you think the issues we've seen with the CFMEU will have any impact in people willing to put their hand up to enter the construction industry?
PETTERSSON: No, I don't think so.