Young people across the Euroa electorate would have more opportunities to train and work close to home under a Liberal and Nationals plan to expand practical training and help local businesses take on apprentices.
A Jess Wilson Liberal and Nationals Government would establish 10 new Technical Colleges across Victoria, providing hands-on training for up to 5000 students in Years 10 to 12, with pathways into carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, healthcare and hospitality, shaped around the needs of local industry.
“I want our kids to be able to build a career right here at home, not feel they have to leave to find work,” Nationals Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland said.
“That starts with training that leads to real jobs with local employers.”
The Liberals and Nationals would also establish a $115 million Accelerating Apprenticeships Fund, covering half of eligible off-the-job training costs for apprentices in priority occupations, with businesses able to claim quarterly rebates.
Ms Cleeland said local businesses such as Marshall Cabinets in Tallarook understood the importance of investing in the next generation, with owner Mick taking on an apprentice every year for the past decade.
“Mick has made a real commitment to training young people, taking on an apprentice every year for the past 10 years,” Ms Cleeland said.
“For a small business like Marshall Cabinets, help with training costs would make a real difference and support employers who are willing to invest in young people.
“We need more local businesses to have the confidence to take on apprentices, and we need to make sure those apprentices can access the training they need without unnecessary barriers.”
Ms Cleeland said Benalla showed how Labor had let regional students down, after the town’s TAFE was moved out of its purpose-built Samaria Road campus and into a CBD shopfront.
“Benalla used to have a magnificent TAFE campus. Now we’ve got a shopfront in the middle of town that’s little more than a Labor billboard, offering mainly computer courses,” Ms Cleeland said.
“If you want to learn a trade, you have to get to Wangaratta, and the train timetable doesn’t line up with class times. That’s not a pathway to a job. It’s a roadblock.”
Ms Cleeland also pointed to completion figures showing just one per cent of Free TAFE plumbing students and one in ten Certificate IV engineering students finished their course.
“Enrolling students is one thing. Getting them qualified and into a job is what matters, and Labor isn’t delivering,” she said.
The 10 Technical Colleges would cost $222 million over eight years, while the Accelerating Apprenticeships Fund would cost $115 million. Both commitments would be funded through the Liberals and Nationals’ savings program.
