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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-09-05 Daily Xml
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TAFE SA

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (15:03): My question is to the Minister for Education. Can the minister outline to the house the benefits of the government's response to the TAFE Strategic Capability Review and related measures contained in the budget?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (15:04): I thank the—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —member very much for his question. I am very pleased to have the opportunity to—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The minister will be seated. Please be seated. The minister has the call.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Thank you, sir. I am very pleased to have the opportunity to talk about TAFE and the way that this government has stepped in to rescue TAFE from the dilapidation and the disarray in which it was left by those opposite. A $109 million rescue package was necessary for TAFE SA due to the work of the Labor Party in destroying that proud institution over a long period of time.

Now, the disarray in which the TAFE SA organisation was left by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition as the minister—in fact the Labor government that has been in power for the last 16 years—was rort for all to see in the Strategic Capability Review and, indeed, the Nous quality report, which were tabled in the parliament yesterday.

What did those reviewers say about the state in which TAFE was left for the people of South Australia by those opposite? The Strategic Capability Review described in particular in relation to the last four years: 'The last four years have been a lost opportunity for TAFE SA and for South Australia as a whole.' What the did Nous Group have to say about TAFE SA? It said, 'The organisation TAFE SA, in some respects at least, had lost sight of its fundamental reason for being.'

That is what has happened under the Labor Party in TAFE SA. We had the Skills for All blowout, we had the ASQA audit turmoil, and we saw traineeship and apprenticeship numbers in South Australia dramatically decline. We saw confidence in the quality of our training system in South Australia hit, damaged, bulldozed by a Labor government that did not care, that did not pay due attention to the significant responsibility that they had for oversight of the TAFE SA organisation.

I note that the shadow minister in the media today has said that the reports were damning about the leadership and the strategic governance of TAFE SA—'particularly damaging of the management who I sacked', she said, claiming credit for having sacked the people that they appointed to give oversight to this organisation. The one thing she claims credit for is sacking these people she appointed. Of course, when it comes to the problems of TAFE's management, leadership, governance and oversight, the CE fell on his sword, the chair of the board was removed by the Governor, but the minister at the time was kept in her position despite all of what had been done to TAFE SA in the past.

This government has stepped in. This government has come to power with a very clear understanding that TAFE SA must be the state's public provider of training synonymous for quality, for confidence, for serving its students well, for providing jobseekers—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —and students in South Australia with that pathway to a job that they demand, providing businesses and industry in South Australia with the skilled workforce they need to develop their future prosperity.

The former government after Skills for All managed to completely obliterate vast sections of the non-government training providers in South Australia, particularly hitting hard the not-for-profit, industry-led group training organisations. This government is not going down that path. We want TAFE to succeed in the market that it will be delivering. We want to support TAFE to deliver on its social obligations that we, the people of South Australia, expect of its public training provider.

I think that the people of South Australia expect a transformation in TAFE. That is one of the key things they voted for. It is one of the things that we promised we would deliver, and we are.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: We have a $109 million rescue package supporting TAFE SA, providing it with the foundation to deliver training for students across South Australia for years to come, to succeed in the future where it was left to fail by the miserable failures in oversight by those opposite, by the former Labor government.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Is the member for Waite still interjecting? The Leader of the Opposition.

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