This morning I rise to comment on my concerns about this government’s lack of commitment to the agricultural sector. Today’s Weekly Times reports that vocational education and training courses in agricultural-based training will be cut by up to 30 per cent. Those cuts will apply not just to courses in the horticultural area but also…
I rise to support Mr Somyurek’s motion and, unlike the last two government speakers, speak to the motion. I will be dealing with the Victorian Industry Participation Policy (VIPP). I will talk about Keppel Prince — a fantastic company that operates within my electorate — and I will also talk about support for local employment,…
My statement this afternoon is on the Auditor-General’s report on residential care services for children. The system that is reported on in terms of the audit summary indicates that there are currently 500 children in the care of the Department of Human Services (DHS), and they are among the most vulnerable in our community. Residential…
My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education, the Honourable Martin Dixon, and it relates to the Geelong Region Local Learning and Employment Network. As the minister would be aware, Victoria is in the midst of a crisis due to youth employment crisis. The fact is that Victoria now has the highest youth unemployment…
Last Friday I attended the Jobs4Geelong expo, held at the Deakin University waterfront campus. It was a two-day event held in a common area at Deakin, which was bustling with people eager to get information from the various stalls held by a range of local employers, recruitment agencies, training providers and other job seeker support…
My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education and is in relation to the Moriac Primary School. By way of background, during 2008 the Labor government entered the Moriac Primary School into what was then the Building Futures program. The proposed works were significant, given that there had been no work on that school…
I rise to speak on the Vexatious Proceedings Bill 2014. The opposition will not be opposing the bill. The bill reduces the costs incurred by the court and members of the community through unnecessary and unmeritorious litigation. In 2008 the Victorian parliamentary Law Reform Committee inquired into vexatious litigants and received significant response from the community.…
On Tuesday, 20 May, more than 200 off-duty police officers rallied against the ongoing and systematic funding cuts and decrease in resources for police in the Geelong region. Police Association secretary, Ron Iddles, addressed the rally, saying it was the first time he could recall a group of police rallying publically for more support. Police…
Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria) — I move: That this house notes that — (1) the Napthine government has cut Victoria’s youth employment scheme at the height of a youth unemployment crisis; (2) the Minister for Employment and Trade, the Honourable Louise Asher, MP, has admitted that the Napthine government reduced the number of traineeships in the…
My contribution this evening is on the South West Institute of TAFE 2013 annual report. The South West Institute of TAFE is the largest vocational training provider in the south-west of Victoria, and over the reporting period the institute delivered accredited courses to over 11 600 students with 2.89 million student contact hours. It has…
My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development. It is in relation to state and federal funding for Victorian kindergartens and the national agreement of 15 hours of kindergarten for every child. It really is extremely disappointing to have to raise the possible notion of the reduction of the current…
Under the Napthine government Victoria now holds the unenviable title of the state with the highest youth unemployment rate in mainland Australia. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show that Victoria’s youth unemployment is at 20 per cent, but figures are higher in some regional centres in my electorate. Sadly, these statistics do not come as…