Question Time

Vocational Education and Training

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:16): My question is to the Premier. Will the government suspend its changes to the vocational training system given that up to 1,000 job losses are projected in the training sector as a result of the new policy?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:16): No, we will not be doing that because we are a reformist government that is determined to have—

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley is called to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —a first-class vocational training and education system in this state. The principles that will guide us in reforming that system will be first and foremost making sure that the training leads to a job because that is the critical purpose of any training system. The second principle that will guide us is the quality of the training to ensure that people get high quality training. The third thing that will—

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hammond is called to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —guide us will be access, to make sure that especially those people who cannot get access to training in the metropolitan area, in regional areas for instance, or in areas of skills—

Ms Redmond interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Heysen is called to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —that are not being provided by the non-government or the private sector where there is a particular role for government. We believe that there is a strong role for us to support that. They will be the guiding principles. It is worth saying though—

Mr Griffiths interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Goyder is called to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —that there is a responsibility by those people who employ labour to also accept their responsibilities about training the people to have the skills necessary.

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hammond is warned.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I am saying that employers should accept their responsibilities in ensuring that they train a workforce—

Mr Tarzia interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hartley is called to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —that can meet the needs of those businesses, so that is also another important guiding principle here. Just to give you some—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Heysen is warned and the member for Mount Gambier is called to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —history of this matter because it is important: South Australia was one of the leading jurisdictions in terms of reforming its higher education, vocational education and training sector. Indeed, it leads the nation in that regard. It has corporatised—

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member of Unley is warned for the first time.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: On all of the national assessments of our training system, our training system is regarded—

Mr Bell interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Mount Gambier is warned.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —very highly by both employers and students, and in efficiency terms is a relatively efficient system. Having said that, we also need to ensure that TAFE is fully equipped to be able to compete in a contestable way in a marketplace that puts everybody on an even footing except, of course, for those courses where we have an explicit subsidy—

Mr Bell: A marketplace on an even footing—give 90 per cent to TAFE.

The SPEAKER: The member for Mount Gambier is warned for the second and final time.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —where there is a role for government in disadvantaged areas or, as I said earlier, those particular needs for access for regional areas.

Mr Knoll interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert is called to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: That will be a very substantial reform process for TAFE and it's one that is beginning. There is a transition that begins fundamentally this year. One of the reasons that there is a bit of upset is that the Skills for All program, which was a very substantial injection of resources, has come to an end, and we're now returning to levels of funding that are similar to the levels of funding that occurred prior to the introduction of Skills for All. For instance, this year, the total level of funding across both the TAFE and non-TAFE systems is actually in excess of that which occurred prior to Skills for All, but it is a reduction on what occurred last year and, naturally, there are some concerns about that.

Mr Knoll interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert is warned. Leader.