METRONET — TRADE
TRAINING CENTRE
839. Mr M. HUGHES to the Minister for Transport:
I
refer to the McGowan Labor government's unprecedented support for local
jobs, in particular, its significant investment in supporting jobs in
rail manufacturing.
(1) Can the
minister update the house on the Metronet trade training centre and how it is
supporting Western Australian workers get
skills and training required for jobs in rail manufacturing and rail
operations?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house whether she is aware of any threats to jobs in rail
manufacturing?
Ms R. SAFFIOTI
replied:
I thank the member for Kalamunda
for that question.
(1)–(2) It
has been a very busy time for industry, in particular, and the training sector
in WA. There have been partnerships like never before between industry and the
training sector, which is making sure that more people are job ready. We have taken this time to commit to not only
major infrastructure, but also to training young people in Western Australia
for careers in civil construction, rail manufacturing and rail operation.
Over the past few weeks, we have
unveiled a couple of really good examples. Members would remember that last year we identified a new Metronet trade
training centre. We were able to create a new course for rail
signalling. This course has never been offered in Western Australian TAFEs. As
a result of that, Western Australians had to go over east to get training.
Although some people did in-house training, we always relied on overseas and
interstate people for this specialist career path. We now have a dedicated
course here in WA. It will commence early next year. We will be training Western
Australians in this very significant career path. These will be good,
well-paying jobs for decades and generations to come. People will be trained in WA and have the ability to work on Metronet
and our freight networks. This will give people opportunities like we have
never seen before. We are doing it with great pride. Stage 1 of the trade
training centre is finished and is in operation already. Stage 2 will be
completed early next year.
On the other side, there are an
enormous number of civil construction contracts out there. Industry told us that it needed more skilled people. We have
partnered with industry bodies to develop a new four-week entry-level
civil construction course. We announced this just a month ago and already have
32 people currently being trained. That is 32 Western Australians who are being
trained to build our roads, rail lines and cyclepaths. They are being trained
right now. Of the 32 people, 12 are women. Women are entering the civil
construction industry like never before. We expect that another 150 people will
do that course.
This government has taken the
challenge of training Western Australians seriously. That is unlike the Liberal
Party, which neglected the TAFE sector. The Leader of the Opposition increased
fees for courses by 500 per cent! We have new courses; we have free courses;
and we are working with industry like never before to ensure that Western Australians
have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get training to enter new industries
to make sure they have good jobs for the rest of their lives.