Adelaide Advertiser | 2 September 2014
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
SA TAFE jobs are set to be slashed by almost a third over the next four years as part of a cost-cutting drive, raising fears a training shortfall will hit just as the automotive sector shuts down.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….……
SA minister Gail Gago
A leaked parliamentary briefing note prepared for Employment, Higher Education and Skills Minister Gail Gago shows TAFE’s full-time job cap will fall by 814 by 2017-18.
The Government announced cuts to TAFE in the June Budget where it revealed almost 300 jobs would go over 12 months.
However, Gago was unable to detail the full four-year impact of the State Government’s savings drive when questioned in Budget Estimates.
The briefing note shows TAFE’s current full-time equivalent cap of 2609 jobs will fall to 1795 in 2017-18 as the Government’s annual spend on the sector drops by $94 million to $251 million.
The cuts coincide with the expected closure of Holden’s Elizabeth plant in 2017 and the loss of thousands of related jobs in the broader automotive component manufacturing sector.
Gago said the Government recognised ther need for retraining as the economy transitions and planned to spend $7.9 million over four years to directly assist Holden workers.
“Workers affected by the closure of GM Holden will be able to access the training available under Skills for All and the jobs and skills package, through the State’s Retrenched Worker Program,” she said.
The briefing notes, prepared by senior public servants, also offer Ms Gago lines for use in political debate.
They include suggested defences of the Government’s troubled promise to create 100,000 new jobs in the six years to 2016 and lukewarm economic forecasts.
They suggest Gago describe the jobs target as “aspirational and challenging” and dismiss opposition criticism as talking down the state while also attacking Liberal policy positions.