Teresa Gambaro (Petrie, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I would like to speak of the wonderful work the Howard government is doing to ensure that Australian businesses can find employees with the necessary skills to help them grow and prosper. One of the best examples of this commitment in my own electorate of Petrie is the Australian Technical College North Brisbane. I want to acknowledge in the House the Hon. Gary Hardgrave, the member for Moreton, who was the former Minister for Vocational and Technical Training, and the incredible work he did in this area in bringing this to fruition. I thank him for the great support that he has provided.

I recently had the great joy to attend the inaugural assembly and the room was abuzz with the first intake of students. They were happy and they were looking forward to their first days of study in the new $16.71 million facility. That happened on 29 January. Their parents were absolutely beaming as well. It was a terrific day. After all of the great work that has been done by the committee, the former minister and the current minister to date, I could not help but feel the great electricity that was there that day and you could see that excitement on the faces of the 150 young people who were about to begin their training. They all received their inaugural certificates commemorating that particular day. I know that many of them will have rewarding careers and great futures. They will make an incredibly valuable contribution to the Australian community and the economy.

As a child growing up, I always thought that everyone worked in a trade. My father was a builder and most of the people that I knew were tradespeople. So it was news to me when I found out we had a skills shortage. This area, particularly the building industry, was very well represented on the day and we have a number of students who are going to work in carpentry and in the building industry.

The number of students is expected to grow to 350 by 2009. They will undertake a certificate III level Australian school based apprenticeship in their chosen trade. The college will offer building, construction, metal, engineering, automotive, electrotechnology and cookery classes. The employment of students in Australian based apprenticeship will be arranged through the college, through the industry linkages.

I would like to acknowledge the wonderful work of Mr Les Bradshaw and his committee of dedicated businesspeople and industry representatives. It is one of 25 colleges. An investment of $343 million has been made by the Australian government. The strong fiscal management of the Howard government has allowed the jobless rate to fall nationally to 4.5 and in my own state of Queensland to four per cent and this will be a welcome addition. (Time expired)