Following on from the NSW Government announcement yesterday that it was allocating $17 million to construct a brand new TAFE campus in Bega, Labor spokesperson for Skills Prue Car has been called out by the Minister responsible for TAFE NSW Adam Marshall for "shamefully telling the community TAFE was leaving town and was being replaced with a 'shop front.'
VIDEO: Andrew Constance MP is with Adam Marshall MP Dec 10th 2018
"Embarrassingly for Car, she’s been caught out. TAFE isn’t leaving town. In fact, Bega is set to benefit from a brand new $17 million campus on top of a $7.8 million Connected Learning Centre that is nearing completion." said Minister Marshall in a media release issued today
"The $25 million investment in Bega TAFE by the Liberals & Nationals Government will transform Bega TAFE. It will mean students will be able to access more than double the amount of courses currently on offer and undertake hands-on training in fields like carpentry and plumbing locally for the first time." Andrew Constance said at the announcement "The new, state-of-the-art TAFE NSW campus in Bega will be right next door to the Connected Learning Centre currently under construction.This new facility will give students in Bega access to a significant range of new hands-on courses, including Agriculture, Bricklaying, Carpentry, Electrical, Early Childhood Education and Care, Health Services and Plumbing. "The people of the Bega Valley deserve the best access to education and training - that’s why I’ve been fighting hard to see our local TAFE completely revilitalised and transformed into an education powerhouse." Mr Constance said
The Minister responsible for TAFE NSW Adam Marshall said Car was clearly just interested in scoring cheap political points.
“Yesterday’s announcement was a game changer for Bega which is set to benefit from a state-of-the-art TAFE presence rivalled by few others across the country,” Mr Marshall said.
“Yet all we heard from Labor was negativity and more lies. Labor’s claims were completely false. This wasn’t a slip of the tongue. It was part of a deliberate campaign by Labor to talk down TAFE and incite fear in the local community.
“Only Labor could turn a $25 million investment in education into a negative.
“Enough is enough. Labor’s campaign has become irresponsible. People in the community are starting to think TAFE is about to close its doors and there will be no opportunities for them to study a trade or apprenticeship locally.
“I want to assure the community of Bega that they are about to receive a bigger and better TAFE and that the existing campus will remain open and operational until the new campus is activated.
“This isn’t the first time Labor has been caught out spreading mistruths. When it comes to TAFE they’re always getting it wrong,” Mr Marshall said.
