Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This evening I rise to speak regarding a major international event recently concluded where 26 young Australians represented their country—our country—proudly. I refer to WorldSkills Australia's Skillaroos, who are flying home from South America as we speak, having competed in the 43rd WorldSkills international competition in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Just as our elite athletes train daily for the Olympics, so too do these skilled tradespeople, who have spent three days competing in their skill area along with over 1,000 participants from 53 countries all with the same goal in mind: to win a medal and to do their best.

I am absolutely delighted to announce that Australia came home with three silver medals, two bronze medals and 11 medallions of excellence, which are presented to the top competitors in each skill area that score above average. One of the three silver medals was won by Joseph Pauley in the industrial mechanics millwright category. Joseph also walked away with the best of nation award, which is presented to the highest scoring competitor from their respective country. The remaining silver medals were presented to Jyothi Forman in the jewellery category and Harlan Wilton for web design. The two bronze medals were awarded to Dylan Di Martino for plumbing and heating and to Sam Spong for bricklaying. Sam was trained by Troy Everett, one of our Australian Apprenticeships ambassadors, so I am especially pleased with that result.

Let me focus particularly on our best of nation award winner, Joseph Pauley, for one moment. Joseph is from Albany, Western Australia. He has a Certificate III in Engineering Mechanical Trade—Fitter and Machinist—and was trained at the Midland campus of Polytechnic West. Joseph has a genuine passion for his trade and has credited his WorldSkills journey with having made him a better tradesman. Joseph also faced a recent personal tragedy that almost saw him leave the competition before it started, but he persevered and came home with the silver medal. I am sure all senators would agree with me that he was well rewarded and is well deserving of his silver medal, as indeed all our Skillaroos deserve the praise that they receive.

Joseph's fellow silver medallist, Jyothi Forman, completed a certificate III in jewellery manufacture at Melbourne Polytechnic. And Harlan Wilton, the third Skillaroo silver medallist, completed his diploma in web design at the TAFE New South Wales Western Sydney Institute's Wentworth Falls campus. Special mention also goes to John Reminis from Nowra, whom I particularly enjoyed baking bread with during a visit to Nowra in recent months. He is one of the recipients of the medallion of excellence, along with Kallon McVicar in welding, Nicholas Roman in joinery, Hayley Parker in hairdressing, Emma Hillier in fashion technology, Adele Di Bella in patisserie and confectionery, Karl Davies in automobile technology, Samantha Johnson in restaurant service, Blair Watters in car painting, Beau Kupris in refrigeration and air conditioning and Dale Fisher in graphic design technology.

I would like to acknowledge every one of the 26 Skillaroos, whether a medallist or not; all the experts; the families and friends; the teachers; the trainers; the employers; and the amazing team who helped support our WorldSkills Australia contestants, led by Mark Callaghan, for their relentless determination to represent our nation proudly. That is exactly what they did. They represented Australia proudly and demonstrated that all Australians should be proud of our vocational education sector, which is highly respected across the world. The results at WorldSkills show that our skills are not confined to one area; we have shown excellence across industries as diverse as restaurant service, jewellery making and bricklaying.

Continuing to focus on the quality of our training system and the skills of the people within it is critical to Australia's future prosperity. Our government's policies are determined to ensure that we have the highest quality in the content of training and the highest quality amongst our training providers. On behalf of the government, I extend my congratulations to everyone involved in Skillaroos and I look forward to personally acknowledging their efforts next month once they have all returned home.