APY Lands

The Hon. T.T. NGO (15:11): My question is to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation. Will the minister tell the house about the increased training opportunities on the APY lands?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:12): I thank the honourable member for his important question and his interest in these matters, particularly as the Chair of the Aboriginal Lands Parliamentary Standing Committee. I was very proud to be invited back last week to help open the new Kalka-Pipalyatjara TAFE learning centre. It was clear to me from my visit in August that the communities of Pipalyatjara and Kalka were very excited about the new services that would be provided and the new building itself.

The new TAFE learning centre in Pipalyatjara, which services both the Pipalyatjara and Kalka communities, is a great example of those two communities working together on a project that will benefit both communities. I know that not just TAFE but many other service providers have already enjoyed and will continue to enjoy having their meetings in the new centre associated with that building as well. I should say that I was very impressed in August with the service providers in general from the whole of the Pipalyatjara and Kalka communities making use of that building and having meetings to discuss common concerns. That meeting in that building showed just what a tightly knit close community Pipalyatjara is.

The new TAFE learning centre will not only provide the community with many opportunities for learning and development, but it will also provide students with the support they need to complete TAFE and other training courses. The centre itself will offer a wide range of subjects, including literacy, driver education, IT and internet, and other interesting and modern courses. These are some of the skills that locals will be able to acquire to help create opportunities for further education, for jobs and for the next generation of leaders in their communities. It also provides access for visiting specialist teachers, trainers and students.

I would particularly like to thank and recognise the commonwealth government, which provided around half a million dollars for the building itself. Like so many projects in remote Aboriginal communities, the best results are often achieved with the state and the federal government working together.

I also had the opportunity last week to visit again the Umuwa trade training centre. I have been there a couple of times this year, and I am always impressed to see what goes on there. It is a very well utilised facility and includes things like a commercial kitchen as well as automotive, engineering and construction workshops.

When I visited last week it was probably the busiest that I have seen it this year. There was a heap going on. On the day that I was there students were doing things such as their Certificate I in Hospitality, Certificate II in Operations, Certificate III in Early Childhood, and automotive training. In addition to that, the principals from Anangu schools right across the lands and Oak Valley and Yalata were at the Trade Training Centre discussing issues that affect teaching. So it's not just students who are utilising the Trade Training Centre: it is adults and others who provide services across the lands.

The Trade Training Centre has recently hit some really important milestones. It has had more than 600 different individuals access training with more than 1,000 enrolments in courses. More than 2,000 people have stayed at the accommodation and more than 2,500 people have been catered for at the Trade Training Centre this year.

I can attest to the quality of catering. I think even the Hon. David Ridgway would be impressed with the quality of catering provided there, and he has very high standards, as most people in this place would know. If I say the Umuwa Trade Training Centre is good enough for the Hon. David Ridgway to eat at I think people can be assured that it is of a great standard. These achievements indicate—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Minister, continue to answer, please.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Thank you for your protection from my colleagues, Mr President, it is very valuable.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! It's not appropriate to be discussing these issues during question time.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The honourable opposition leader, it's not appropriate. Let the minister, the Hon. Mr Maher, continue.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The honourable opposition leader, I hope your taste in wine is not as good as your food, because I'm paying for it tonight. The honourable minister.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his interjection about spuds. He is always entertaining when he gets on to these sorts of topics. In conclusion, the Umuwa Trade Training Centre is going from strength to strength. I was pleased to be at the opening of the Pipalyatjara Kalka TAFE learning centre and also, last week, had the opportunity—and I have not visited in more than a decade—to visit the Oak Valley community. The school is operating very well and the students are very proud of it.

The health service and aged care centre is certainly one of the best in such a remote community. I was very pleased to see the art centre back up and running and some of the newly funded employment places being used for women, particularly in the art centre, and also men accessing the art centre in Oak Valley.