Regional centres must be part of congestion and centralisation issues
The observation that Melbourne is the centre of economic growth does not assist planning for Victoria's future. We need long-term planning alternatives before total traffic gridlock occurs. The solution is to promote employment and lifestyle opportunities in regional centres by having fast, reliable rail connections.
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This would enable people to choose between living and working in the regions or Melbourne, or living in Melbourne and working in the regions. Such options work well for London and other important centres of employment, all built around dependable rail networks. We need to ensure there is space for additional rail tracks and infrastructure, such as car parks, to allow for rapid transit, increased rail patronage and regional growth.
Graeme Macmillan, The Rail Futures Institute
Training in the spotlight
Victoria's training system has endured a revolving door of ministers under Daniel Andrews' chaotic command and the damage bill is adding up. The sector has shrunk to half the size it was in December 2014, with 45.3 percent fewer students in training at June 2016; a drop of more than 200,000 students. Labor also expects training organisations to do more with less.
In just 12 months, the Andrews government ripped $165.3 million from training and cut staff numbers by 6.5 percent in just 12 months, despite committing to no staff redundancies.
Now, Labor has launched a last-ditch attempt to artificially inflate TAFE's bottom line in time for the Auditor-General's annual review. It's the second year in a row the Andrews government has handed out cash grants in time for this review and with no expectation students will receive anything in return. Last year, the Auditor-General found: "this, combined with ongoing spending cuts made by the TAFEs, has produced a net surplus for 2015, and improved the liquidity ratio".
Youth unemployment is as high as 18 per cent in some areas but Daniel Andrews and Gayle Tierney have no interest in making sure young people can get the skills they need to get a job. Daniel Andrews' claims of a TAFE 'rescue' are an absolute farce and it's Victorian students who are paying the price.
Steph Ryan, Shadow Minister for Training, Skills and Apprenticeships
In one week alone, the Andrews Labor Government has injected $26 million into our regional TAFEs and is continuing to work with industry to meet their training needs. Unlike the Coalition who cut hundreds of millions of dollars from the training sector and ignored industry needs, we're working to make industry-relevant training accessible to every Victorian.
In an embarrassing blunder, the Coalition skills spokesperson has been caught out manipulating figures to hide the damage her party did during their failed time in government, although it could be argued she just doesn't understand how the training system works. In an act of utter deception, she's been comparing full year figures for both accredited and pre-accredited students for 2014 against the half year 2016 numbers for accredited training only.
If the Coalition can't even read a report properly, how can anyone trust them to run our $1.2 billion training and TAFE system? The time for talk is over; we're serious about rescuing TAFE. That's why we've created the Stronger TAFE Fund, part of Skills First, which will allow TAFEs to focus on what they do best - train students. We're overhauling training in Victoria by guaranteeing funding to secure the future of TAFE and making sure Victorians have the right skills that industry needs for the jobs of today and tomorrow. It all builds on the work we've already done over the last two years to put students and industry first.
