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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-07-03 Daily Xml
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Skilling South Australia

Mrs POWER (Elder) (14:17): My question is to the Minister for Innovation and Skills. Can the minister update the house on Skilling South Australia?

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley—Minister for Innovation and Skills) (14:17): Yes, I can.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I don't know what caused this interruption, but the minister has the call.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left! The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: I thank the member for Elder for her interest. I know that members of her electorate are very interested in trades and skills in South Australia. One constituent in particular—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —her husband, Brad Power, is a heritage carpenter. The Marshall Liberal government is building a better future for South Australians. We are creating more jobs and we are providing new training—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —opportunities, leading to real careers for South Australians. The Marshall government has achieved its first target under the Skilling Australians Fund national partnership agreement. We have now received our first payment from the commonwealth, equating to more than $20 million, for reaching that target. We are delivering on our Skilling South Australia commitment. Under our reforms, total apprenticeship and trainee numbers have exceeded the benchmark set for the Skilling South Australia program.

For the reporting period from 1 July last year to the end of April this year, more than 10,000 commencements have been achieved, and this is what triggered the $20 million payment from the federal government. It's a terrific achievement to be making steady progress on the increased training activity here in South Australia on top of the very poor start we inherited when we were elected in March last year, after a 55 per cent drop-off—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —in the number of apprentices and trainees since 2013 under those opposite. The partnership between industry and government is working. To date, more than 60 projects have been co-designed with industry for Skilling South Australia to a value of $11 million. This is where we have gone out to industry and have identified what the barriers are for them taking on apprentices, what enablers we can help them with, and we have worked out bespoke projects in order for them to get on board. About 3,000 apprentices and trainees—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —have been employed under that process. It's critical that we equip our workforce to meet the skills needs in our state's existing and emerging industries so that we can boost our economy, build productive infrastructure, grow our exports and create long-term, clear pathways for South Australians.

We are working with industry to increase skills and to ensure funding from the commonwealth continues to flow in South Australia—because we love to spend money from Canberra—as we progress the Skilling South Australia initiative. South Australia was the first state to sign up to the Skilling Australians national partnership and we are pleased to have achieved our first annual benchmark payment from the commonwealth.

The Marshall Liberal government is investing $100 million over four years, and a national partnership with the Morrison government was further strengthened in the April federal budget through the $525 million Skills Package, Delivering Skills for Today and Tomorrow, resulting in an increased funding investment here in South Australia of a net benefit of about $15 million, including a new training hub in Port Pirie. I use this opportunity to thank Rowan Ramsey, the member for Grey, for his advocacy for his constituents in Port Pirie.

Of course, a bonus for 10 of the skills most in demand in South Australia is a doubling of the $4,000 payment to employers to $8,000 in that space. It's interesting that, of those 10 skills, six are in the building industry: carpenters and joiners, plumbers, air-conditioning and refrigeration mechanics, bricklayers and stonemasons, plasterers, and wall and floor tilers. Of course, the other skills that have been identified as being in short supply are hairdressers, bakers, pastry cooks, vehicle painters and arborists.

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