Guy Barnett (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I, and on behalf of Senators Colbeck and Parry, move general business notice of motion No. 625:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

the Australian Technical College Northern Tasmania (ATCNT) has been a highly successful model of education for students who wish to learn a trade and complete their Tasmanian Certificate of Education,

(ii)

the ATCNT, with campuses in Launceston and Burnie, is currently set to close on 31 December 2009 with the loss of 35 staff jobs and the displacement of more than 270 students,

(iii)

the options being offered to students for 2010 by the Tasmanian Government are in no way comparable to current courses offered by the ATCNT and further place at risk the education and employment prospects of students,

(iv)

the Federal Government has invested more than $26 million for the establishment and operation of the ATCNT, including $14 million on the building of the Launceston and Burnie facilities,

(v)

the outstanding performance of the ATCNT in its first 3 years of operation including, winning more than 40 awards for students and staff, as well as the 2007 Tasmanian and Australian School Based Apprentice of the Year and being named the 2009 Registered Training Organisation of the Year for Tasmania, and

(vi)

the ATCNT has achieved a retention rate of 95 per cent between Year 11 and Year 12 and a 94 per cent success rate for completing students in securing full-time employment; and

(b)

calls on the Government to support the ongoing operation of the Australian Technical College Northern Tasmania.

Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to move an amendment to general business notice of motion No. 625.

Leave granted.

I move the amendment to the motion as circulated in the chamber:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

the Australian Technical College Northern Tasmania (ATCNT) has been a highly successful model of education for students who wish to learn a trade and complete their Tasmanian Certificate of Education,

(ii)

the ATCNT, with campuses in Launceston and Burnie, is currently set to close on 31 December 2009 with the loss of 35 staff jobs and the displacement of more than 270 students,

(iii)

the options being offered to students for 2010 by the Tasmanian Government are in no way comparable to current courses offered by the ATCNT and further place at risk the education and employment prospects of students,

(iv)

the Federal Government has invested more than $26 million for the establishment and operation of the ATCNT, including $14 million on the building of the Launceston and Burnie facilities,

(v)

the outstanding performance of the ATCNT in its first 3 years of operation including, winning more than 40 awards for students and staff, as well as the 2007 Tasmanian and Australian School Based Apprentice of the Year and being named the 2009 Registered Training Organisation of the Year for Tasmania, and

(vi)

the ATCNT has achieved a retention rate of 95 per cent between Year 11 and Year 12 and a 94 per cent success rate for completing students in securing full-time employment; and

(b)

calls on the Government to support the ongoing operation of the Australian Technical College Northern Tasmania.

Senator Milne, by leave, moved the following amendment:

At the end of the motion, add “within the public education system”.

Question put:

That the amendment (Senator Milne’s) be agreed to.

Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement relating to Senator Barnett’s motion which has just been passed.

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for two minutes.

Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Australian Greens did not support the Howard government’s establishment of these colleges because we believed at the time that it was a politically motivated decision, that the colleges would duplicate services already provided by existing institutions—the TAFE colleges in particular—and that the establishment of the colleges was part of the attack on the union movement. However, these colleges have been established. They are very well funded in comparison with similar colleges offering similar services and that disproportionate funding is inequitable.

Having said that, the Bartlett Labor government in Tasmania has made a complete and utter mess of the transitional arrangements to this new system of the academy and polytechnics and so on. There is no clear transitional arrangement for the 270 students and 35 staff in the Australian Technical College Northern Tasmania with its two campuses that we are discussing here today. There are no satisfactory transitional arrangements. There is no guarantee on staffing. We do note that the Bartlett government has now said that it will do everything it can to make sure that the colleges do not fail, and I am glad to hear that that is the case. So we are supporting this on the basis that those students and staff have proper transitional arrangements and that equivalent certification can be achieved as this process is worked through.

Guy Barnett (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for two minutes.

Guy Barnett (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is a very important motion, and I appreciate that the Senate has supported it and I appreciate the views of Senator Milne as have been expressed on the record. I am not clear whether the government have made their position clear, and perhaps they could make it clear. I was of the view that the government were not supportive of the motion, but they have not made their position clear to me and I do not want to misrepresent their position one way or the other. I think it would be useful to have on the record whether they support the motion or not.

This is a very important matter for northern Tasmania and north-west Tasmania. I was very hopeful that the Labor senators, particularly from Tasmania, would support this motion for the sake of the future of the Australian Technical College Northern Tasmania. It is a very important matter for northern Tasmania and it is very important to get that on the record. It would be useful to have that clarified by government senators so that we have on the record whether they supported the motion or not.

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Barnett, the motion has been put and carried. It is entirely up to the government whether or not they want to state their position, but the motion has been put and it has been carried.