Adjournment Debate

MATES in Construction

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley) (15:51): On speaking to the adjournment of the house, it is an opportunity to speak about matters of importance. I want to talk about the relationship between MATES in Construction and the Marshall Liberal government and claims made by the Premier last week when he was attending the fundraising lunch, where he claimed that there were funding cuts to MATES in Construction from the previous government. It was simply not true.

I will explain the arrangements that were in place when we came to office. The CITB granted in 2018-19 a funding grant to MATES in Construction with a total value of $53,200. That was a General Awareness Training program, $28,200, and Life Skills Toolbox training, $25,000. Prior to this, I am advised that MATES in Construction received about $10,000 a year from the CITB. The CITB is a board independent of government. MATES in Construction have confirmed that they applied for funding—at that time—under the South Australian Suicide Prevention Community Grants Scheme and other methods of funding.

The Department for Innovation and Skills met with MATES in Construction at that time, when that one-off funding finished, and a request for $150,000 of funding for the following year was denied by the CITB. We were keen to discuss how MATES in Construction could work in with our Skilling South Australia program, so the department met with MATES in Construction to talk about new opportunities to work with industry, including broader industry groups, because we thought the program could be rolled out to apprentices across the industry through the Skilling South Australia program to help deliver mental health and suicide prevention programs for apprentices. I am advised that the meeting was, in fact, a positive meeting.

It is also interesting to note that the claims made by the Premier completely ignore the letter that was sent by MATES in Construction to the then minister responsible for training, the Hon. Susan Close MP, who was the Minister for Education and the training minister at the time. The letter states:

I am writing to you today in your capacity as Minister for Education and Child Development and for Higher Education and Skills regarding a shocking statistic that exists in the construction and engineering industry.

Of course, we all know that is the case. Suicide rates are higher in South Australia than in other states. The letter goes on to explain how MATES in Construction is a not-for-profit organisation, and they requested the state government at that time to join in their fundraising target of $200,000. In other words, they were asking for a grant of $200,000.

I was advised at the time by those involved in MATES in Construction that there was no response from the minister to the letter, and instead the letter was passed on to SafeWork SA, I believe, and the request was denied. So the claim that there were funding cuts to MATES in Construction by the previous government is totally wrong—totally wrong. The Department of Transport at the time was providing $25,000 a year. That was a two-year agreement that continued. That program was not cut and there was a one-off grant for particular projects by the CITB in that 2018-19 year.

It is disappointing that the Premier would politicise such a sensitive issue in our community. There is probably not a person in this chamber who would not have a personal experience of somebody who has died by suicide. The facts are that the department, when I was the minister, was very focused on working with MATES in Construction on a fee-for-service basis for their services right throughout the sector. The claim by the Premier that there was a cut by the previous government in this program is simply not true.