TAFE is Key to a Strong Economy

BY MARISSA ALEXIOU

TAFE's are facing a challenge in meeting the needs of the Hunter community with the government's defunding of NSW's TAFE System.

State Member for Wallsend, Sonia Hornery is calling for the government to invest in TAFE in order to keep the Hunter's economy strong.

The O'Farrell-Baird-Berejiklian Government has overseen the defunding of the NSW TAFE system and poorly managed Smart and Skilled Program.

With the rise of youth unemployment, TAFE is being seen as a way to encourage workers to seek further education and upskill our workforce.

Sonia Horney said if the government wants to build a stronger economy, they need to provide courses at TAFE that provide apprenticeships and jobs for people in NSW.

The recent cuts to TAFE have been significant and have seen a reduction in courses, apprenticeships and jobs across NSW including the Hunter.

This has further resulted in a lack of skills needed for areas such as manufacturing and aged care.

Sonia Horney said that a strong education system is necessary for a strong economy and quality workforce.

Source:www.studyinaus.com

Hunter greyhound racers concerned following passing of ban

BY JARROD MELMETH

Hunter greyhound trainers are considering their futures after legislation banning the practice was passed in parliament in the early hours of this morning.

Debate in parliament went for almost 12 hours with three National Party MPs crossing the floor in protest. The Baird Government eventually passed this bill 49 votes 30 at around 4am this morning.

The bill had previously been passed in the Upper House following a similar lengthy debate.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter, Scot MacDonald said it was a difficult decision but the outcome is favourable.

"We've got a responsibility to look at it on a statewide basis and the industry had been given many opportunities to reform itself." 

"But, it was proven time and time again that the element in the industry that was leading the industry was determined to deceive the government, the regulators, the RSPCA and even their members."

Member for Wallsend Sonia Horney who earlier in August presented a petition of 37,000 signatures opposing the ban said, the economic impacts that will follow the closure of The Gardens racetrack in Wallsend is concerning.

"The economy of Wallsend is going to loose about 17.6 million dollars a year once The Gardens is taken away from our community."

Kevin Gordon from the Alliance of Greyhound Racing said, the impacts of the ban go much deeper than just the trainers.

"We are saying that the impacts will go so deep potentially tens of thousands of jobs will be lost in New South Wales at a time where unemployment is getting higher."

The greyhound racing prohibition Bill carries penalties of up to a years jail for those who participate in the practice in New South Wales after July 1, 2017.

Photo courtesy of the ABC.

Fears for TAFE administration jobs

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Labelled by critics as an attempt to dismantle the system, the Baird government's TAFE cut announcement has left more than just teaching staff in limbo in the Hunter.

In a plan to save on administration costs, the restructure will see ten independent institutes abolished and replaced with a central entity.

The Public Service Association (PSA), which represents the workers, says the vital assistance students need will be lost as thousands of support staff jobs are cut.

PSA Assistant General Secretary Steve Turner says regional areas like the Hunter will be most effected with these TAFE colleges helping develop young people and re-train those wanting to re-enter the workforce.

"Administrative staff are very important for the running of TAFE, they give students support, they give teachers support, classrooms support. They say they want to improve something and yet they're cutting the very staff that do those improvements."

Under the Baird Government's Smart and Skilled program there are already 86, 000 less students in Government funded vocational providers than in 2014, and additional reforms in 2015 raised fees by up to 81% which also drove students away.

"This is part of an announcement by a minister to try and grapple with the failure of the system that they've rolled out. They've rolled out Smart and Skilled to try and improve TAFE but all its done is put TAFE into contestability with private providers who run a leaner machine who run for profit. You can't put tertiary education into a profit model."

MP Sonia Hornery calls for Greyhound ban to be discussed in NSW Parliament

BY SARAH BARONOWSKI

Following the State Government's recent ban on greyhound racing, State Member for Wallsend Sonia Hornery is calling for the issue to be contested in the NSW Parliament.

State Member for Wallsend, Sonia Hornery
[Image: NSW Parliament]

The MP firmly believes a parliamentary debate can help introduce stronger regulations to the industry to ensure the prevention of animal cruelty while allowing those involved in racing to maintain their jobs.

Sonia Hornery says the Baird Government's sudden decision to completely shut down the industry will affect the livelihoods of HUNTER residents.

"I have great concern for the livelihoods of workers in the Hunter," she said. "Fifty people in the Wallsend area rely on their jobs at The Gardens.

"If they were to lose their income because of this, where will they find another job?"

According to the MP, workers and operators are not the only ones who will be affected by this decision.

"We're also talking about the vet industry, we're talking about soccer that plays at the greyhounds for years, we're talking about the club itself, we're talking about the Asian restaurant that relies on the patrons of the Gardens for their livelihoods," she says.

"So it's not only impacting on the fifty people who rely on the greyhounds at Wallsend, it's all of those other people who will lose their job."
In order to prevent job losses, the MP says a parliamentary inquiry should be implemented.

"What I would like to see is this inquiry into the industry discussed in Parliament," she says. "Consultation and more information is needed before decisions like this are made.

"It should have been discussed by all of our parliamentarians so that we can talk about the impact on us."

The Gardens in Newcastle [Image: Newcastle Herald]

For Sonia Hornery, the Baird Government's decision is an unfair one and impacts those who abide by the laws in an attempt to punish the few who do not. She says it is the bad operators who should be targeted as generalisations put the majority of workers at a disadvantage.

"Eighty percent of the people in this industry love their pets and look after them," she says. "Why should they be negatively affected by the twenty percent?

"Let's improve regulations so we get rid of the twenty percent of miscreants and clean up the industry."