TAFE SA

The Hon. T.T. NGO (14:44): Supplementary question: could the Treasurer outline the reason behind closing Port Adelaide TAFE? I find it a bit strange, because there are more than 450 students at that campus at the moment.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:44): I am delighted the Hon. Mr Ngo has asked me that question because it does give me the opportunity to indicate why we have had to make some of these cuts. Because of the scandalous nature of the former management by the former Labor government of TAFE, the state of TAFE is just a mess. This government—

The Hon. K.J. Maher: So you close them down. You fix it by closing it.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Well, we actually have to find the money to balance the budget. This government has had to put an extra $109 million over five years into TAFE to try to allow it to continue as a viable training provider because of the scandalous mess in which the former Labor government left TAFE. We had people spending up to $52,000 of their own hard-earned money on courses, which, when they went to get their job, the accredited training provider said they are not worth the paper they are written on. They did not use exactly those words, but they couldn't continue to use that for the jobs that they were in.

We are having to spend $2 million of taxpayers' money, flying TAFE staff all over Australia to try to provide top-up training courses to these people who suffered under the former Labor government's administration of TAFE. They spent their money, they got a qualification, they thought they had a job, and then, all of a sudden, the national accredited body said that doesn't meet the standard that was required.

So the taxpayers are now spending $2 million of hard-earned money on sending our staff all over Australia, or flying them in, back to South Australia, paying for their accommodation, so that we can retrain them for their course. That's where the money is going. That's why we have to make savings in TAFE. That's why hard decisions have been made in relation to some TAFE sites, like Port Adelaide, having to be closed in relation to their efficiencies. In relation to why particular sites are closing—

The Hon. K.J. Maher: What efficiencies?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: That's exactly what you would expect a former Labor minister to say: what efficiencies? They wouldn't recognise an efficiency if they fell over it because they weren't prepared to even look at it. That's the sort of financial mismanagement, incompetence and negligence the former Labor government exhibited in terms of the management of taxpayers' money, and it was sadly all too evident in the TAFE portfolio. There is $109 million of taxpayers' money going into trying to bail out TAFE to see that it can continue to be a viable training provider. As a result of that, they do have to make savings to try to meet budget.