Alex Gallacher (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to make a contribution to the adjournment debate on my normal subject: activity in my duty electorate of Grey. During the parliamentary recess, as seems to be usual, I officiated at a couple of openings of trade-training centres in the electorate of Grey, travelling to the Eyre Peninsula and the Flinders Ranges. At the outset, I just want to reiterate my comments in response to Senator Macdonald's claim that Labor has abandoned regional Australia: once again, there has been significant investment in one of the most regional Australian seats, the electorate of Grey.

The Port Lincoln trade-training centre incorporates Edward John Eyre High School as the lead school, along with Ceduna Area School, Cleve Area School, Cowell Area School, Cummins Area School, Kimba Area School, Streaky Bay Area School, Stuart High School, Whyalla High School and Wudinna Area School as cluster schools. That covers almost all of the Eyre Peninsula. The funding for this trade-training centre was $9.9 million. I have already opened complementary facilities at Cummins and Streaky Bay which are part of this trade-training centre investment.

The trade-training centre will deliver qualifications in aquaculture, engineering, construction, hospitality, agriculture and horticulture. The facility at Port Lincoln High School is used for aquaculture and hospitality training. Anyone who knows Port Lincoln knows that those are two primary drivers of the economy of that region. The aquaculture facility is state of the art but, very importantly, built as an industry-standard facility. Aquaculture in the Port Lincoln economy is extremely important, a fact that is recognised Australia-wide and indeed worldwide.

Tony Green, the principal of Port Lincoln High School, stated: 'In regards to the aquaculture centre, it is a state-of-the-art facility that links the Port Lincoln community to the school. As of two weeks ago, students from New Zealand's Queen Charlotte College have been learning at Port Lincoln High School and, in exchange, students from Port Lincoln will go to New Zealand to learn about aquaculture there. This trade-training centre has strong links with business and industry. There has been an increase in students getting experience in working with businesses and the industry because of the aquaculture centre. This allows students with an interest in a career in aquaculture to move into full-time work when they finish their studies.'

Mr Green said in relation to the commercial cookery centre: 'There has been a strong interest from all students. They have hired two chefs as teachers, so commercial reality is taught. Children learn how to turn a $6 chicken into a meal worth $21. They have been able to provide a catering service and service for the community, seen during race meetings at Port Lincoln.' There is very strong relationship with the hospitality industry, where students are getting work experience. Mr Green finished by saying: 'This is a valued contribution by the federal government that complements students' strong academic records.' When we arrived at the trade-training centre, we were treated to a very professional spread of food prepared and served by the students. It was of an extremely high quality, and the students were extremely proud of the skills that they were displaying. They were very confident and articulate about their role and how they had been successful in their endeavours in that commercial kitchen environment.

From there we move to the Pichi Richi Trade Training Centre. It is led by the Quorn Area School, but it also incorporates as clusters Booleroo Centre District School, Hawker Area School, Leigh Creek Area School, Orroroo Area School and Port Augusta Secondary School. We have now moved and taken in another great swathe of regional South Australia in the electorate of Grey. They received funding of $6.5 million. These trade-training centres will deliver construction, engineering, hospitality, manufacturing, electrotechnology and automotive qualifications.

The Pichi Richi Trade Training Centre is unique, as students are able to learn skills from the Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society, which contains a collection of all of the historic railway carriages and steam engines in that area. Port Augusta has been an integral part of that for 100 plus years. The Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society workshop, which is where students go to actually practise their skills, is a little distance from the actual school. At the opening we rode on one of their diesel engines down to the workshops to see where students had been getting to work on restoring what is basically part of our nation's history.

The very carriage where General MacArthur famously proclaimed 'I shall return' is one of the carriages that these students work on. Also, a lot of these carriages historically transported troops all around Australia. Interestingly, as remarked upon by a number of students, they found what was basically some graffiti from the Second World War. People would scratch their name and number on the wall of the carriages as they were coming and going, which intrigued the students. The steam engines themselves have an amazing engineering story, which seemed to excite interest among the students who were allocated the cleaning and trying to enable the engineers to refurbish them. I would strongly recommend that anyone who is going past or up Port Augusta way drop in at Quorn and embark on one of their historic steam train rides around the area. What we have is a trade-training centre and a complementary effort from the preservation society, which is all staffed by volunteers who are imparting their skills to students.

At the opening of the Pichi Richi Trade Training Centre, we got to meet a very impressive young Australian by the name of Alistair Keller. He was a standout beneficiary of this investment in regional Australia. Alistair was announced as the 2012 South Australian School-based Apprentice of the Year. He then came to Canberra and won the Australian School-based Apprentice of the Year award. Alistair has also completed a Certificate III in Agriculture. He recognises the importance of trade-training centres for the development of schoolchildren in his area. While he was on stage giving a very eloquent speech, he was able to communicate the importance of skill-based learning for those in rural Australia. Alistair has gone on to start up his own business in animal husbandry; this has led him to all parts of Australia. He provided some insights into the pressures on some of the farming communities, particularly in Queensland, where a lot of young rural people are going into mining. He stated that this has left a shortage of people to work on the farms and that is why he is demand in places such as Queensland. When we asked Alistair what learning a skill at school has done for him, he stated:

Well, school and classroom learning is not for everyone and to be able to learn another skill out of school and be able to finish your school is a huge benefit to people like me in the rural environment. Having a skill like a cert 3 in agriculture is a huge benefit coming out of school, as I think I am one level ahead of kids coming out of school without a qualification trying to get into agriculture.

When asked about school-based training and how it helped him to start his business, he said:

What I have learnt at school has been significantly beneficial, but what has been of greater benefit is the skills I have learnt out in the workforce as part of my school based traineeship. I believe things such as organisation and work ethics cannot be taught in a classroom environment. Also during my school based apprenticeship, I have been able to build up networking contacts which have been able to help me build my own business.

This has really meant a lot for his local community, as hopefully with school-based training there will be more young people who stay in rural communities and who get the skills necessary to transition into the economy in regional areas.

It is extremely important to place on the record that this is an incredible investment—I think it is up to in excess of $46 million in the electorate of Grey—that connects young people with skills, work experience and a regional economy. People in Port Lincoln can work in aquaculture. People in Port Augusta can work in electrotechnology, mechanical engineering and the like. This great investment by this Labor government is to be commended. I finish by saying to Senator Macdonald: have a look at the facts.

Senate adjourned at 19:58