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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-03-05 Daily Xml
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RURAL TRAINING AND APPRENTICESHIPS

Ms BREUER (Giles) (14:54): It is with great pleasure that I ask my first question of a former schoolmate of mine, the Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education—although, of course, it is quite obvious that I am much younger than he is. I was the brainbox, he always told me, but look who's the minister! Minister, what is the government doing to retain trainees and apprentices in drought-affected rural areas of South Australia?

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN (Napier—Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:54): I thank, or I think I thank, the member for Giles, my former classmate, for her question. She was always the brainy one. As members would be aware, areas of south-eastern Australia have been in the grip of drought for over seven years. The impact has been particularly pronounced in the Murray-Darling Basin and has severely impacted South Australian rural communities along the River Murray. Additionally, most of our grain producing areas have been impacted by drought to varying degrees.

The economic impact of drought is felt not only by the men and women on the land but also by the supporting rural communities and townships. One of the most important things that governments can do during a time of prolonged drought is to assist rural communities to retain their young people and prevent the de-skilling of regions.

To this end, the government will be committing an additional $1.1 million to the Drought Apprenticeship Retention Program to ensure that the program can continue to run for a further 12 months. As members may be aware, particularly those representing rural electorates, the program commenced in the 2007-08 financial year and enabled 600 employers to retain over 1,000 trainees and apprentices. This is a significant outcome.

When times are tough and cash flow is under stress, the first and second year apprentices can be the first to go. From my own experience in employing apprentices—and I think this is a fairly universal observation—it is only some time into the second year of an apprenticeship that apprentices or trainees begin to pay their way. Up until that time, they are on a steep learning curve and their contribution to the financial welfare of the business is fairly marginal.

The act of the employer in taking on an apprenticeship in the first year and part of the second year is more an investment in the future and, up until that time for many employers, it can be a real drain on cash flow. So, this action by the government in investing an additional $1.1 million in the Drought Apprenticeship Retention Program is a tightly focused application of taxpayers' funds that will pay extraordinary dividends to regional and rural communities.

The program applies to selected qualifications in rural and horticultural production, automotive engineering, electrical and plumbing. This package brings total state government commitment to drought affected areas to more than $146 million. The state government will be contacting all eligible employers so that they can be in the running for a total of $1,500 per apprentice or trainee. This will be paid in tranches of $750 per six months over the period of a year on the proviso that the trainee or apprentice is continually employed during that six month period.

I also acknowledge the federal government's recent $155 million plan to encourage employers to take on trainees and apprentices and to assist those employers during the challenges of the current economic downturn to retain their current trainees and apprentices. I think we have a real synchronisation of policy at federal and state levels on this issue.

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