Dr TOYNE - 2001-05-30
Mr Speaker, construction of the railway is about to commence and we all expect ...
A member: It has commenced.
Dr TOYNE: ... that gas will come onshore in the next ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Dr TOYNE: Mr Speaker, I will repeat that. Construction of the railway is about to commence and we all expect that gas will come onshore in the next few years. Territory workers will need training if they are to take part in these important projects and the time for a big training effort is right now. Could the minister please tell us how a mean and tricky budget cut to the Northern Territory Employment Training Authority of $3.42m, with the negative sign in the front, will help Territory workers be job ready? Is cutting NTETA’s training budget exactly when it should be expanded the first point of a CLP jobs plan?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, they have done the same thing. Why don’t you be truthful? He has done the same thing as his boss is doing and he has identified extraordinary items in the budget which are completely recurrent. I am talking specifically about NTETA and they are talking about a number of ...
Dr Toyne interjecting.
Mr LUGG: Listen. Look, you do not have a clue. Your mate was on the radio in Alice Springs yesterday saying we had slashed 30% out of Centralian College. Do you want to know why? It is because they have finished building the hospitality complex and they do not want another one. The same thing applies in NTETA and it refers specifically to 12 Commonwealth-funded programs which are now completed. The base line funding from the NT government is the same; it has increased slightly. But I can tell you something with regard to gas and with regard to the railway, that training has been provided and will continue to be provided to meet the emerging needs of the industry. There are contingencies in there and it is done in an appropriate way.
Members interjecting.
MrLUGG: It’s not done: ‘Look, we’ll pick a bunch of people and we’ll train them and we’ll look at…’ - in fact there is a good training idea that is coming up. I think we should introduce a training program called ‘Understanding Budget Papers’. Perhaps there might not be a lot of demand for it, but there is certainly a need for the class of seven.
A member: It has commenced.
Dr TOYNE: ... that gas will come onshore in the next ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Dr TOYNE: Mr Speaker, I will repeat that. Construction of the railway is about to commence and we all expect that gas will come onshore in the next few years. Territory workers will need training if they are to take part in these important projects and the time for a big training effort is right now. Could the minister please tell us how a mean and tricky budget cut to the Northern Territory Employment Training Authority of $3.42m, with the negative sign in the front, will help Territory workers be job ready? Is cutting NTETA’s training budget exactly when it should be expanded the first point of a CLP jobs plan?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, they have done the same thing. Why don’t you be truthful? He has done the same thing as his boss is doing and he has identified extraordinary items in the budget which are completely recurrent. I am talking specifically about NTETA and they are talking about a number of ...
Dr Toyne interjecting.
Mr LUGG: Listen. Look, you do not have a clue. Your mate was on the radio in Alice Springs yesterday saying we had slashed 30% out of Centralian College. Do you want to know why? It is because they have finished building the hospitality complex and they do not want another one. The same thing applies in NTETA and it refers specifically to 12 Commonwealth-funded programs which are now completed. The base line funding from the NT government is the same; it has increased slightly. But I can tell you something with regard to gas and with regard to the railway, that training has been provided and will continue to be provided to meet the emerging needs of the industry. There are contingencies in there and it is done in an appropriate way.
Members interjecting.
MrLUGG: It’s not done: ‘Look, we’ll pick a bunch of people and we’ll train them and we’ll look at…’ - in fact there is a good training idea that is coming up. I think we should introduce a training program called ‘Understanding Budget Papers’. Perhaps there might not be a lot of demand for it, but there is certainly a need for the class of seven.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016