Page 3360 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 21 August 2018
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
A responsive workforce is made up of a mix of permanent, casual and on-call staff and is key to maintaining the needs of a number of our front-line services, particularly those in the vocational education space. I would encourage the government to continue with this direction in workforce capabilities. I have watched keenly as a number of policy shifts have been announced in recent times relating to casual employment.
As part of ensuring our vocational training provider, our dominant provider, CIT, is competitive—both in terms of cost in the courses it offers and particularly in meeting the needs of local industry and making sure that the skills that are being delivered meet the demand of local businesses and give students the best opportunity, on completion, for entering employment in their chosen field in the local market—it is important that the CIT remain agile and able to adapt to an ever-changing education market.
The opposition continues to be committed to ensuring that where you live in Canberra does not represent a barrier to accessing vocational training. We will be watching closely over the coming years to see how the impact of the closure of the Woden campus pans out on enrolments and courses that are entered into. We will be keeping a very close eye on how that space evolves.
MS LE COUTEUR (Murrumbidgee) (6.14): I rise briefly to support very strongly Mr Wall’s comments about the almost total lack of tertiary and higher education in south Canberra. Yes, there is a small facility in Tuggeranong and a small facility in Fyshwick, but this is not really enough to be equitable for the people of south Canberra. It is very depressing that community facilities seem to have been withdrawn from south Canberra.
I would also put forward a plea for the ACT government to make very good use of the excellent site that is probably now, unfortunately, available: the Woden CIT site. It seems to me that one of the more obvious uses could be an expansion of the Canberra Hospital. Anyone spending any time at the hospital or going past it can see that it appears to have pretty much run out of land, and the Woden CIT site is very conveniently located next door.
That clearly is not the only thing that could be done, and I am not saying that it necessarily is the best, but it is very important that the government uses this prime site for the benefit of the people of south Canberra and in particular for the residents of Woden who are adjacent to it.
Proposed expenditure agreed to.
Housing ACT—Part 1.11
MS LE COUTEUR (Murrumbidgee) (6.16): I figure I am on a roll; I will keep going. The ACT Greens welcome the government’s response to the estimates committee’s recommendations regarding housing. Nonetheless, there is scope for significant improvements in this portfolio. Of course, I remain very hopeful that the much
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video