TAFE sector
Richard WELCH (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:41): (508) My question is to the Minister for Skills and TAFE. Given the government has failed to reach an agreement with TAFE teachers to pay them fairly and for excessive workloads and unpaid overtime and that the industrial action now includes teachers walking off the job if a Labor MP attends a TAFE campus, which planned visits to TAFE campuses has the minister had to cancel or postpone?
Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Regional Development) (12:42): I thank the member for his question. We see in newspaper reports that there are negotiations underway between the Victorian TAFE Association and the AEU and that there have been a range of protected actions that have been in place since 22 April. Of course my main interest in all of this is to ensure that the VTA and the AEU return to the negotiating table as soon as possible and undertake respectful negotiations so that we can see outcomes that will benefit teachers, trainers and the future of the skills and training system, particularly the TAFE system, here in Victoria. We are absolutely committed to making sure that all workers, including workers in TAFE, are respected, and we will ensure that there is an outcome that is achieved, like there is at the end of all negotiations – there is an outcome – and we look forward to that outcome being delivered sooner than later.
Nick McGowan: On a point of order, President, the question related to how many times the minister has had to cancel an appointment at a TAFE facility. The minister is yet to answer the question. I ask you to bring the minister to the question.
The PRESIDENT: I believe the minister is addressing the preamble to the question, but I will call the minister to the question.
Gayle TIERNEY: Again, the government respects the rights of AEU members to take industrial action. I am on the record in this place as supporting union members in a whole range of areas, but particularly in terms of their democratic rights, and that is absolutely in stark contrast to the position that has been adopted by anyone on the other side of the chamber. The fact of the matter is that I am a regular visitor at TAFEs. I hold forums and I have conversations, and of course there are always events. I have not needed to postpone any commitments that I have made in the TAFE sector, but I do look forward to an outcome from the negotiations.
Richard WELCH (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:44): I thank the minister for her answer. The cognitive dissonance on display was first class, actually. As part of the industrial action, if TAFE teachers do walk off the job because the Allan government is not paying them fairly, what assurances can you provide that student learning will not suffer and classes will continue to be staffed and run as scheduled?
Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Regional Development) (12:45): Clearly the member has not even bothered to look at the industrial instruments that are at play, because he would not have asked that question. What he is purporting on the industrial action just is not the case, and indeed there is also the requirement to provide notice periods as well. The fact of the matter is that this is an EBA negotiating period. Everyone pulls out all the stops to do different things at different times to get the outcome that they need for the members that they represent. That is in play at the moment, and again, I am seeking both parties to come to the table and come up with a solution so that we can have decent work conditions for teachers and trainers and of course for us to also have the next visionary step for TAFE to undertake what it needs to do to deliver that pipeline of skilled workers in this state.