MS TIERNEY (Western Victoria—Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education) (12:22:58): Last Sunday marked the year anniversary of the re-elected Andrews Labor government. The gift of government is something we do not take for granted, and we have not wasted a day since. We have continued our proud record of building an education and training system that is accessible, high quality and modern and meets the needs of the economy.
I am pleased to share with the chamber some of the highlights of the past year: free TAFE, with 36,000 students developing the skills they need for the pipeline of jobs across the state; the reintroduction of trade papers after those opposite got rid of them, valuing and recognising the skills and qualifications of our tradies; record funding for adult community education and the release of the new ministerial statement on the future of ACE, recognising and setting out the future of the sector; the TAFE big build, including the new culinary school for the Gordon, a new health training facility at GOTAFE Seymour, an integrated centre for sustainable construction technologies at Box Hill Institute Lilydale and the Bendigo TAFE campus revitalisation project, just to name a few; funding for the Raising Expectations program, which is giving students who have been in out-of-home care the support and resources needed for them to study at TAFE and university; the most diverse and representative TAFE boards in Victoria’s history, with women making up 52 per cent of ministerial appointments to boards; and finally the Macklin review, the next stage of reform to bring about a joined-up post-secondary system to best meet the needs of industry and the economy. This is a government that is delivering for all Victorians.