RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS - Queensland Parliament ...

2324 Appropriation (Parliament) Bill; Appropriation Bill 31 Oct 2012
While I acknowledge the majority of committee members for the overall thorough consideration
given to the budget estimates, particularly for the Education, Training and Employment portfolio areas, it
is disappointing that opposition members chose a narrow, sensationalist focus rather than considering
the totality of expenditure in this most important area. As the committee’s report highlights, the overall
expenditure in this portfolio area includes the provision of education services in 1,239 state schools in
2012 to more than 496,000 students and the delivery of vocational education and training services to
over 288,000 students.
In my role as Assistant Minister for Technical and Further Education, I particularly note and am
proud of the fact that the highlights in this budget include the investment of $10 million to fund 500
university scholarships for women in traditionally male dominated fields or in areas experiencing skills
shortages; the investment of up to $86 million over six years to support 10,000 additional apprentices;
and the investment of $24.1 million to continue the development of the Central Queensland major trade
and technical skills campus in Mackay. In order to revamp Queensland’s VET sector and ensure that we
have an industry engaged and responsive VET system that provides flexible pathways to skill
Queenslanders to meet future employment and skills needs, I am looking forward to working with the
Minister for Education, Training and Employment to consider the recommendations of the Skills and
Training Taskforce when the final report is handed down in November.
These are only a few measures contained within these portfolio budget estimates that go a long
way towards fulfilling our election commitments, ensuring that we will have a skilled workforce to meet
the demands of a growing four-pillar economy and working towards a four per cent unemployment
target. This is about getting Queensland back on track and providing greater opportunities for all.
Having said that, as the minister acknowledged in his opening address to the committee’s
hearing, the first six months of the Newman government have not been easy. As all ministers entered
their departments for the first time after the election, they were faced with a terrible financial situation—
the incredible extent of which has now been revealed—and, as a result, incredibly difficult decisions
have had to be made. The minister acknowledged that, whether it was corporate staff or programs that
were affected, those difficult decisions were not reflections on the performance of the staff or the value
of the program. They were decisions that were unavoidable due to the reckless mismanagement of the
previous government. One of those difficult decisions was to cease Skilling Queenslanders for Work. I
support the minister’s comments that ceasing these programs was not a judgement on the merits of the
programs but rather an unavoidable decision in a difficult economic circumstance.
Both the minister and I have met with representatives from a number of groups delivering those
programs and we recognise the outcomes they achieved. However, the federal government already
funds employment support programs at an annual cost of $1.8 billion and Queensland cannot afford the
$53.8 million to run the Skilling Queenslanders for Work program in 2012-13. As the minister has made
clear, employment services are the responsibility of the federal government and in difficult budget
circumstances we must only undertake our core responsibilities so as to deliver on our responsibilities
effectively. However, the minister has written to federal Ministers Shorten and Evans about the issue
including the need for the Commonwealth to commit to the entire spectrum of employment programs.
As I mentioned at the beginning, there are many highlights within these portfolio budget estimates
of which I am proud, and I look forward to working with the minister to deliver on these commitments as
set out in the committee’s report. I commend the report to the House.
Hon. JH LANGBROEK (Surfers Paradise—LNP) (Minister for Education, Training and
Employment) (10.00 pm): It is my pleasure to rise in this debate. I would like to thank the members of
the Education and Innovation Committee for their work during our estimates committee hearing two
weeks ago. I was very appreciative of the conscientious way in which the majority of the committee
approached their work. There was a quiet and thorough examination of the Department of Education,
Training and Employment’s service delivery statements. However, it was very sad and disappointing to
read the poorly written and ill-conceived statement of reservation from the committee members
representing the people of Inala in the Leader of the Opposition and the people of Mackay in the Deputy
Leader of the Opposition. We had to suffer the insincere indignation of those opposite being prepared to
sacrifice the principles of parliamentary practice for the cheap headline and the five-second grab on
television with scant regard for the real issues and serious decisions that the Department of Education,
Training and Employment makes daily. As honourable members will read, parliament has been treated
to a political statement that amounted to nothing more than an undergraduate diatribe. I am not sure
what the opposition office is doing with its 22 staff members, but I think they need some writing master
classes to help them out.
Once again we saw the opposition leader and deputy leader in their capacities as members of the
committee retreat to cheap political point scoring instead of using the opportunity to learn something—to
serve their constituents by better understanding the work of my department. It is very clear from the
puerile product dished up in that statement of reservation that, just as we saw from them yesterday and
today in question time, those opposite have no idea about the importance of what we do. Let us briefly
turn to the matter of the Queensland School for Travelling Show Children.