Ross Hart (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about Australia's pre-eminent institute for maritime education, training and research: the Australian Maritime College in Launceston. The AMC is one of seven founding members of the International Association of Maritime Universities, which has representatives from five continents. AMC is recognised globally as a centre for excellence. Its multimillion dollar suite of specialist teaching, learning and research facilities is internationally acclaimed and is utilised by government bodies and maritime-related businesses worldwide.

On a recent tour with the shadow assistant minister for climate change and energy, Pat Conroy, I experienced firsthand this world-leading work at every level, including their cutting-edge research, in partnership with global industries, into maritime-based renewable energy production. Whether it is captaining a vessel, safeguarding marine environments, designing advanced ocean engineering structures, farming seafood or keeping the world's goods moving, AMC offers a comprehensive range of maritime courses, from vocational certificates all the way to doctorates.

This is completely at odds with Minister Pyne's apparent misconception that the AMC has no role in vocational and subdegree courses. With an international reputation for administering maritime training, how is it that this government is allowing one of its ministers to relegate the AMC to a minor role in the training associated with the largest shipbuilding programs Australia has ever undertaken? It is inappropriate to belittle Australia's leading maritime training and research institution and to relegate it to being one of many training organisations which might be delivering training in conjunction with the MTC in the minister's home state of South Australia. This minister's absurd agenda to downplay the AMC's pre-eminent role in maritime training is exposed by a graphic within the naval shipbuilding plan, in which it is just one of 114 education and training providers within Australia that are relevant to naval shipbuilding—just one in that number, but we know it is the pre-eminent maritime training and research facility.

The naval shipbuilding plan released last week only confirms my view that Minister Pyne has no intention of utilising the AMC as the lead institution in defining the future training requirements for Australia into the future. It will be, as the document makes abundantly clear, one of the many training organisations to contribute to training, which simply does not recognise its international standing. What also concerns me about the plan is the admission that foreign workers will be required as there will not be the time to train suitable Australian workforces within the timeframe for the preparation for the build. Yet there is time to waste on making a decision on who will administer the maritime training college.