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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-05-02 Daily Xml
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WUDINNA SKILLS AND WORKFORCE SUMMIT

The Hon. J.S. LEE (15:02): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries a question about the Wudinna Skills and Workforce Summit.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: On 22 April AgriFood Skills Australia in partnership with the state and federal governments hosted a skills and workforce development summit in Wudinna on Eyre Peninsula. This $4 million AgriFood National Regional Initiative is expected to drive AgriSkills development in four regional towns located across Australia with Eyre Peninsula being chosen for South Australia.

The regional development manager for AgriFood Skills Australia, Mr Christian Pyke, stated on ABC rural radio on 23 April that there is about $850,000 that will go into training and he will be working closely with an advisory group where they will gather advice as to how to go about putting in place local solutions. My questions to the minister are:

1. What is the amount of state funding commitment towards AgriFood Skills Australia and over what period of time?

2. Who will be eligible to access the $850,000 in training that has been allocated?

3. Who are the people on the advisory group, how have they been selected, and what reporting responsibility does the advisory group have with the state minister?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (15:03): I thank the honourable member for her most important questions. Indeed, an environmental scan recently conducted identified four areas of priority action that needed to be addressed, looking at issues of sustainable growth. It identified things like the attraction of new workers, the adoption of higher skill levels across the workforce, diffusion of new research findings, innovative practice and technology, and the retention and skills utilisation of existing workers. These areas of priority action are obviously significant issues for PIRSA and other stakeholders.

Indeed, quite recently Wudinna hosted a landmark skills and workforce development summit looking at regional workforce initiatives. The state government and the federal government partnered with AgriFood Skills to help boost capabilities in the region, and the ministers for regions and for aquaculture, including federal ministers, are very supportive of this. I think Wudinna was an important place in which to conduct this forum; it contributes about 12 per cent of the state's total aquaculture and fisheries production.

The new initiative is being facilitated by AgriFood Skills Australia with the support of both the federal and state governments, and aims to increase the level of capability as well as workforce participation and attraction and retention of workers and families within the region, and it is obviously a key part of our priority around premium food and wine from a clean environment. The summit enabled industries, enterprises and communities to work together for the purposes of improving skills and retention in the region, and a number of industries from across Eyre Peninsula were involved: AgriFood Skills Australia, the Southern Bluefin Tuna Industry Association, Eyre Peninsula Mining Alliance, the Eyre Peninsula Local Government Association, the Resources and Engineering Skills Alliance, Viterra, and the Abalone Industry Association.

As I said, it was very widely supported and there was a high level of industry engagement. The identification of challenges to the industry was one of the reasons this particular forum was conducted and the commitment given, and the feedback was that it was highly successful and delivered some very important cooperation and collaboration across various industry sectors. In relation to specific funding, I am happy to take that on notice and bring back a response.

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