Aquaculture Training

Mr TRELOAR (Flinders) (14:45): My question is to the Minister for Education. Can the minister update the house on the work being done to encourage young people in the electorate of Flinders to gain skills in aquaculture?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (14:45): I thank the member for Flinders for this question, and I acknowledge his particular interest in the young people in his electorate, and indeed their futures, and his particular interest in supporting the aquaculture industry that is so important for the economy of Eyre Peninsula and of South Australia. I am very pleased to identify that there's a lot of good work being done to ensure that those young people in the member for Flinders's electorate have the opportunity to have a better future with more jobs. One of the ways in which we are doing that is by delivering better services. That's what the new Marshall Liberal government is doing.

I can advise the member that TAFE SA and the Port Lincoln High School have commenced a new partnership, as of this school term, to offer hands-on aquaculture training to year 11 and year 12 students in the member for Flinders's electorate. It's great news, and I am very happy to share more information with the house. I am told that, under the partnership, year 11 students will be able to do the full Certificate II in Aquaculture, providing an excellent opportunity for hands-on training. It covers everything from feed stock, handle stock, harvest culture and health stock. As part of the certificate II, year 11 students undertake safety units as well as applied deckhand skills, which, as the member for Flinders is acutely aware, is a very important requirement of employers in this industry.

In addition, I am advised that, for the first time, year 12 students at the Port Lincoln High School will be able to complete some units towards a Diploma of Aquaculture in collaboration with TAFE SA. This partnership is not only creating the opportunity for students to continue their studies in year 12, but they can also then go on to complete their diploma with TAFE SA after year 12, should they wish to do so. Mutually beneficial links with industry are providing more opportunities for students to gain valuable work experience and be job ready. This is a key part of the equation: being job ready in industries where there is a jobs need.

This government is very focused on ensuring that the skills needs of South Australia's economy in the future are met by South Australians who have been given the opportunity to apply their endeavours to attaining those skills. Students in Port Lincoln can use this pathway towards jobs that will exist in the future—careers that will serve them well for years to come. Additionally, I have been advised that the partnership agreement with the Port Lincoln High School enables TAFE SA to use its facilities outside school hours for its training. It's intending to provide a certificate II and a Diploma of Aquaculture to the wider community, starting next semester.

I am sure that this is a service that the people of Port Lincoln, particularly the students, the young people of Port Lincoln, will come to appreciate. I hope that many of them gain these skills and gain great jobs in the years ahead. I am excited, and I am sure many of them are excited, that this is a government that's delivering for the regions, because, as I am told regularly by the Minister for Primary Industries, regions matter.