Early Childhood Education

Mr BOYER (Wright) (14:38): My question is to the Minister for Education. Was the decision to scrap Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care at metropolitan TAFE campuses a decision made in October last year, based on any concerns with the quality of that course?

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley—Minister for Innovation and Skills) (14:38): It is interesting that the member for Wright, despite his enthusiasm for being in this role, hasn't done any of the work that a shadow minister would do.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Hurtle Vale!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: We have made it very clear—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —that we are increasing the quality and the opportunity for apprenticeships and traineeships here in South Australia—and, boy, was there a need to do so. Don't take my word for it:

Labor in government did some very good things in TAFE—

but we didn't hear a list of them—

but also made some very substantial mistakes. I don't think there's any walking away from that and this is an area that I think is worthy of being addressed so I acknowledge Labor's errors in government.

That was Peter Malinauskas last week on the radio, a fellow called Peter Malinauskas. And that's what we are doing. That's exactly what we are doing.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the Premier!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my right!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: Let's go back to 2015.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: Overnight, the rug was pulled from the non-government sector here in South Australia who were delivering 50 per cent of skills training in South Australia. They were told they couldn't have access to the Subsidised Training List. People lost their jobs. People lost their businesses. People committed suicide over that decision. It was such an ill-considered and poor decision, and they have been recovering ever since. I have to tell you, they were scarred for the three years until a Liberal government was returned to South Australia—

Mr BOYER: Point of order, Mr Speaker.

The SPEAKER: The member for Wright on a point of order. The minister will resume his seat.

Mr BOYER: Standing order 98, Mr Speaker: the minister is debating the question.

The SPEAKER: I have the question. I uphold the point of order. The minister will direct his remarks in answer to the question in accordance with standing order 98(a).

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Any matter in relation to the way in which a minister endeavours to answer a question is a matter that may be the subject of a point of order that may be raised. It is certainly no reason for interjection across the chamber. The minister has the call. The minister will direct his answer to the question.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: They don't want to hear it, Mr Speaker. They don't want to hear it. This is the whole basis of the need for these changes and this policy that the government is implementing.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Point of order, Mr Speaker.

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will resume his seat. The member for Lee on a point of order.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Yes, sir. You had just ruled in accordance with the point of order. You just upheld the point of order and the first words out of the minister's mouth were to reinforce the debate that he was previously giving in his answer.

The SPEAKER: The point of order goes to debate. I have upheld the point of order. I will give the minister somewhat longer than a few seconds. I have directed the minister to direct his answer to the question. The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: One thing that I have learned in this business is that this is a very complicated process. I know that the member for Wright likes to make it simple—TAFE versus the non-government sector—and he has been warned about the dangerous game he is playing in that space. He has been warned about that and the damage that he is doing to the sector.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: If the member for Wright spent as much time developing his own policy rather than sniping from the sidelines—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —shouting at clouds, we might have some real debate in here, but they have a very long way to come. From the very words of the Leader of the Opposition, the shadow minister for jobs—from his own words—this system was a mess under Labor, so of course it's going to change, and we are making that change. We're making that change in TAFE and we're making that change in the non-government sector—a 25 per cent growth in the non-government sector here in South Australia. Here's an interesting statistic; here's a fun fact for you, Mr Speaker—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —a real fact.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the Premier!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —not an alternative fact that comes from one on the other side there: TAFE delivers five million hours of TAFE training for $231 million. The non-government sector—

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will resume his seat. I have directed the minister to the question now on two occasions. I will move on. The member for Colton.