Grant Chapman (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

He is indeed. He is an excellent representative of the people living in the Kingston electorate and works very hard on their behalf to deliver programs and support for that community. That college is a $16 million project. It opened its doors two weeks ago with 105 students. Next year that will double to more than 200, and by its fifth year of operation there will be some 450 students at the Australian technical college at Christie Downs.

I said earlier that the reason we are providing this additional funding is the enthusiasm with which parents have engaged in the opportunity for their children to become part of the Australian technical college program. That enthusiasm for this Howard government initiative was demonstrated very clearly late last year, when more than 300 parents crammed into a hall at Christie Downs for an information night on the college. The program for Australian technical colleges builds on the Howard government’s highly effective New Apprenticeships scheme in addressing our skills shortage.

Under the 10 years of strong economic management of the Howard government, the number of new apprentices in training has grown from 143,700 in 1995 to more than 400,000 today. Statistics from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research report that in the 12 months to 30 June 2006 new commencements of Australian apprenticeships grew to 267,200. Looking at broader industry requirements for skilled workers in areas requiring strong skills in maths and science, such as engineering and biotechnology, we must see our classrooms and universities as the soil to grow the seeds of our innovative nation.

Under the Howard government initiative Skills for the Future, specifically addressing the national skills shortage, an extra 510 HECS-supported engineering places have been made available this year, with an additional 500 in 2008. Motivated by industry based supply shortages, this will also meet unmet student demand for engineering courses. These facts demonstrate that the Australian government’s initiatives in encouraging people to take up training opportunities, particularly in the trades but also at the professional level, are working. We need to build on this foundation. Education is a fundamental component of our innovation policy, producing enormous future productivity throughout the economy, and is at the core of building a knowledge based economy.

Global markets are increasingly dominated by a greater dependence on knowledge, information and high skill levels. The interplay of supply and demand between education and industry requires long-term policy objectives which link to specific policies. We need to engage the imagination and expectations of children and young adults. At the school level, for a national policy strategy on maths and science, I am advocating the development of a nationally linked science education network as an option that could be administered under the existing Skills for the Future initiative.

Under this option, science and maths teachers would be able to pair with science related industry and research and development professionals across the public and private sectors in classroom mentor partnerships, supported by an ongoing national web based awareness and careers campaign, including a comprehensive suite of teaching aid materials. Students could also engage in an online youth science network, using blogs, video files, podcasts and science topic chat rooms to enhance their interactive experience.

Organisations such as CSIRO and Questacon need to play a vital role in working with a national steering committee in the development of web based resources, teaching aid materials and interactive design and content solutions. In this way students will get excited about science and maths, and that is the important issue in ensuring that they embark on further education and careers in the key fields of demand.

In addressing ongoing teacher motivation and teaching innovation, an online teacher network would be a valuable initiative, combined with short-term industry placements for teachers in science and maths related areas about which they feel passionate, so that they get knowledge and experience of what is required in the workplace with regard to science and maths. The answer is about not just enticing good science and maths teachers back into the system but also changing what often amounts to cultures of institutionalised mediocrity.

Post-secondary education provides another critical opportunity to develop targeted incentives that are well integrated with a school based strategy. For example, targeted government-funded HECS scholarships for broad based maths and science fields not only bring a strong element of prestige to a student but also certainly look great on a CV when finding that first job.

The ideas that I am putting forward contrast markedly with those of the Leader of the Opposition, Kevin Rudd. He recently proposed a HECS reduction for maths and science degrees. This completely fails to address the awareness and motivation which is the key to young adults getting excited about and engaging in maths and science. In light of what motivates students, such a proposal would be ineffective in lifting student numbers in maths and science. HECS fees are not the issue. The issue is developing interest and motivation among young people for maths and science based studies. The Rudd HECS sweetener is ultimately an ineffective policy tool. There are simply no solid policy responses in Mr Rudd’s quagmire of deceptive rhetoric. The so-called ‘education revolution’ which he has proposed is little more than a cut-and-paste job from then British Labour opposition leader Tony Blair’s 1997 campaign.

Furthermore, it needs to be noted that Australia’s spending on tertiary education has not declined by seven per cent between 1995 and 2003, as Mr Rudd claims. The OECD figures exclude 75 per cent of funding for vocational and technical education which is included for other countries. When comparing apples with apples, OECD figures show total Australian expenditure on tertiary educational institutions actually increased by 25 per cent in real terms between 1995 and 2003. Australian government investment in Australian universities increased by 7.7 per cent in real terms over that period.

Mr Rudd needs to stop his deceptive rhetoric. We need real policy solutions, not his deceptive rhetoric. It is a matter of looking at trends in education and industry and linking those trends with a responsible and balanced perspective and a continual focus on struggling families, community wellbeing and economic growth, which are clearly demonstrated by the policies of the Howard government. They are clearly reflected in this legislation today. I commend the legislation to the Senate.