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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 839 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 4 November 2020 by Mr M. Hughes

Parliament: 40 Session: 1

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.