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PRIME MINISTER
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATING MP
OPENING THE ADVANCED MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES CENTRE
EAST PERTH COLLEGE OF TAFE
PERTH WA
I am very pleased to be here this morning to open the Advanced Manufacturing
Technologies Centre.
The objective of this Centre is to provide Western Australia with a world class
vocational education and training centre one which will respond to the needs of
industry and which will facilitate this State's value added export oriented
industries. This is an ambitious objective.
It is particularly ambitious because vocational education is still, to some extent,
the " Cinderella" of the educational system, lacking the resources and prestige of
the universities, and often acting as an add-on to a generalist school-level
education. The roots of this neglect are deep, and go back to the nineteenth century. As
one eminent person said then,
universities were institutions designed * to instruct the youth of the colony in the
higher branches of education" whereas technical education existed " to instruct
the working classes in their particular business'.
This dismissal of vocational education, which sadly persists in some quarters,
has cost Australia dearly.
It has caused vocational education to become a second-best option for both
students and governments.
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Over the last 40 years one working lifetime the number of students at
university has increased more than eighteen fold while the number of students in
vocational education has risen by well under a third of that figure.
As a result, the Australian vocational preparatioii system in the early 1980S was
the second smallest in the OECD we had only one 16 or 17 year old in five In a
program, compared with seven In ten in some ccountries, and an OECD average
of one in two.
Not a great performance, you will agree.
And it is not as if students have been going to university instead. Less than one
third of students actually go directly to universitY.
The sad and alarming fact is that almost a quarler of students are seeking to go
directly into work without having undertaken gn4 vocational study.
It is these students who are most at risk of long.-term unemployment and who,
when they get work, will be trapped in low skilled jobs.
Jobs which will inevitably disappear with the inoxorable advance of technology.
I think that no-one would disagree that we haVE1 an obligation through our
education system to prepare young Australians for life and for the future.
We must create an education system that serve~ s individual needs, and by doing
so, serves the interests of Australia.
In the new world that our children are now inheriting, the nation's wealth will
depend more and more on the skills of our worldorce.
That is -precisely why the Commonwealth Government, in partnership with State
and Territory Governments, Is committed to expanding TAFE and enhancing its
prestige. It is why, in July 1992, we reached an historic agreement to establish a new
national vocational education and training syst!, m.
And a new Australian National Training Authority ( ANTA).
ANTA, which Is due to come into operation on. 1 January next year, will oversee
the growth and reform of the vocational trainln!) sector, and ensure that its
programs better meet the needs and priorities of industry. We will add to our
current outlays $ 720 million in growth funds for this purpose.
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In this sense, it is a first for Australia. It will bring together government, industry
and training providers to form a national vocational educational training system
with agreed objectives and priorities, assured funding arrangements, and
consistent national strategies.
ANTA will work towards closer interaction between industry and vocational
education and training providers, and will also improve the links between
schools, higher education and vocationai educat~ ion and training.
This is long overdue.
The same can be said for centres such as these.
Manufacturing Is one of the main wealth creating sectors in developed,
economically vibrant economies.
It is also one of the fastest growing segments of world trade, with significant
growth In high value-added goods.
Australia has taken the opportunity to increase Its share of this international
market.
There Is no doubt that we have made dramatic advances in recent years.
Achievements which surprise many Australians when they become aware of
them. In the last three years the volume of manufacturied exports has grown by nearly
two-thirds.
Exports of elaborately transformed manufactures have risen by 217 per cent
over the last decade.
And between 1983 and 1991 research and development personnel in Australian
industry experienced the second fastest growth among industrialised countries.
But there Is little scope to rest on our laurels.
We need to proceed apace with the improvement of the overall competitiveness
of our manufacturing sector and we can do so b~ y the development and use of
advanced manufacturing technologies, or AMT.
Centres such as this one will facilitate the increased adoption of AMT by
ensuring a supply of well trained manufacturing ':. echnologists who have a broad
range of appropriate skills rather than narrow trede-based training.
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They can be at the cutting edge of Australia's international export strategy. And
they need to be tor the Science and Engineering Council found last year that
the level of adoption of AMT by Australian manufacturing industry Is uneven and
generally lagging behind that in competitor nations.
This Centre will make a valuable contribution to assisting Western Australian
industry to take up and use advanced manufacturIng technology, and thereby
enhance the competitiveness of Australian manufacturing in general.
It will also raise the profile of vocational educatioin, and prove that TAFE is
meeting the challenges of the 1990s.
And there is no doubt that TAFE is doing so.
The results of the survey of TAFE students relef ised earlier this week, which
-shows that 87 per cent of students were satisfied with their courses, indicates
that TAFE Is doing a good job.
But we need to Improve it further, and let people know how good it really is.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to open the Australian Manufacturing
Technologies Centre. I congratulate all concerned with the building of the
Centre and wish students and staff all the best for the future.
PERTH 9 October 1993