Page 2367 - Week 06 - Friday, 27 June 2008
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that to save our world we are going to have to treat it very differently, we are going to need a whole lot of new skills.
That does not just mean a new course in environmental sustainability. It means making sure that it is embedded in all the courses that are taught, whether it is cooking, whether it is hairdressing, whether it is horticulture. It will not be that obvious. It needs to be everywhere. I believe that is a very big role for CIT and that, in fact, it is ideally positioned to lead the sustainability education revolution that we need.
MR SESELJA (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (1.10 am): I have a few words in relation to CIT. From our perspective, the work that CIT does is of critical importance. We certainly believe that vocational training is going to be an increasingly important part of the future of our city and we need to find ways of funding smarter, in the way that CIT has done.
Dr Foskey has touched on some of the issues with the campuses, and I will not go over that too much, but there is obviously the axing of the campus at Weston. The Weston Creek community had to put up a fight to have the arboretum at Weston saved and there is still no clarity on the fate of much of the land of the former CIT facility. The question now is: which will be the next closed, given we know that the government wants to rationalise CIT facilities? In the budget, the government has funded a feasibility study on CIT services in Fyshwick. It may well be that this study is a backdoor mechanism for getting a recommendation that the government consolidate services from Fyshwick to another campus.
I note, and I am pleased, that there is work afoot on the Reid master plan but there is no serious funding or assurance of funding from the government to give those working on the master plan a sense of what is achievable and realistic. Another significant problem for realising redevelopment at the Reid campus is that there is no clarity of what will happen with the Constitution Avenue upgrade. Until that is sorted out, I think there will be some uncertainty for the Reid campus and any expansions there.
I note that the estimated outcomes for graduate satisfaction and employer satisfaction are higher than the target, at 87 per cent, and I think that that is critically important, particularly employer satisfaction. I think we need good synergies there between CIT and employers so that we are getting the kind of training that employees and employers need so that we can address some of the serious skills shortages that we are facing in the ACT.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation and Minister for Industrial Relations) (1.13 am): I thank members for their contributions. I think there is agreement around the chamber early this morning on the importance of the CIT. I do note, of course, the major disparity in funding when you look back over the last decade—who cuts, who increases funding—but at this late stage I will not go into that. I just thank members for their support for the CIT and for this appropriation.
Proposed expenditure agreed to.
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