Thursday, 13 July 2006
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13 Jul 2006 Estimates Committee C—Employment, Training & Industrial Relations, & Sport 1 THURSDAY, 13 JULY 2006 Legislative Assembly ESTIMATES COMMITTEE C—EMPLOYMENT, TRAINING AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, AND SPORT ESTIMATES COMMITTEE C—Employment, Training & Industrial Relations, & Sport Estimates Committee C Members Mr SD Finn (Chair) Mr MA Caltabiano Mr JM English Mr CJ Foley Mr JD O’Brien Mrs JA Stuckey Mr GJ Wilson In Attendance Hon. TA Barton, Minister for Employment, Training and Industrial Relations and Minister for Sport Mr L Spencer, Policy Advisor Department of Local Government, Planning, Sport and Recreation Mr M Kinnane, Director-General Mr P Cook, Director, Business and Financial Management Sport and Recreation Queensland Mr C Matheson, Executive Director Queensland Academy of Sport Mr A Baumann Department of Employment and Training Mr S Flavell, Director-General Mr C Robinson, Deputy Director-General Department of Industrial Relations Mr P Henneken, Director-General Mr B Leahy, Deputy Director-General Mr B Walker, General Manager, Executive and Strategic Services Committee met at 8.30 am. CHAIR: I declare this meeting of Estimates Committee C now open. On behalf of the committee, welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to today’s hearing. I am Simon Finn, member for Yeerongpilly and chair of the committee. My fellow committee members are Mr Michael Caltabiano MP, the member for Chatsworth and deputy chair; Mr John English MP, the member for Redlands; Mr Chris Foley MP, the member for Maryborough; Mr Jason O’Brien MP, the member for Cook; Mrs Jann Stuckey MP, the member for Currumbin; and Mr Geoff Wilson MP, the member for Ferny Grove. The committee will examine the proposed expenditure contained in the Appropriation Bill 2006 for the portfolios assigned to it in the order of appointment dated 21 April 2006. We will examine the portfolios of Employment, Training, Industrial Relations and Sport; Transport and Main Roads; as well as Tourism, Fair Trading and Wine Industry Development in that order. The committee has given leave for non-committee members to ask the ministers questions. In this regard Miss Fiona Simpson MP, the member for Maroochydore; Mr Ray Hopper MP, the member for Darling Downs; and Mr Kev Lingard MP, the member for Beaudesert, will be participating in the hearing. 2 Estimates Committee C—Employment, Training & Industrial Relations, & Sport 13 Jul 2006 I remind the committee and the minister that the time limit for questions is one minute and three minutes for answers. A bell will ring once 15 seconds before the end of these time limits and twice when the time has expired. I will allow more time for answers if the questioner consents. The standing orders require that at least half the time for questions at today’s hearing is allocated to non-government members. Government members and non-government members of the committee will take turns at asking questions in blocks lasting approximately 20 minutes for most of the hearing, commencing with non-government members. However, given the short amount of time allocated for Sport, questioning will take place in 10-minute blocks. In relation to media coverage of today’s hearing, the committee has resolved that video coverage without sound and still photographs are allowed only during the opening statements and at the commencement of proceedings after each change of departments. For the benefit of Hansard, I ask the advisers to the minister to identify themselves before speaking. Please also ensure that mobile phones or pagers are switched off while in the chamber so as not to disrupt the proceedings. I remind all of those participating in the hearing today that these proceedings are similar to parliament to the extent that the public cannot participate in the proceedings. Standing order 206 provides that a person admitted to a committee public hearing may be excluded by order of that committee. The first item for consideration is the estimates of expenditure for the Employment, Training, Industrial Relations and Sport portfolio. The time allotted is three hours. The committee will examine Sport first from 8.30 am to 9 am. We will then examine the Department of Employment and Training from 9 am to 10.15 am followed by a 15-minute break. After that we will examine the Department of Industrial Relations from 10.30 to 11.45. At the conclusion of this portfolio the committee will break for a one-hour lunch recess. I call on the estimates of the proposed expenditure referred to the committee and declare the proposed expenditure for the Minister for Employment, Training and Industrial Relations and Minister for Sport open for examination. The question before the committee is— That the proposed expenditure be agreed to. Minister, under standing order 117 you are able to make an opening statement that does not exceed five minutes. Would you like to make that opening statement? Mr BARTON: Yes, I would, Mr Chairman. Chairman and committee members, let me outline the Beattie government’s plans for 2006-07 for Employment and Training, Industrial Relations and Sport and Recreation. Employment and training are at the top of the agenda for the Beattie government. A record $979 million budget will provide the first down payment on our groundbreaking $1.1 billion Queensland Skills Plan, which over the next four years will see an all-out attack on skill shortages. This plan is necessary at a time of record low unemployment and a buoyant economy because our workforce is ageing and skill shortages are both a national and worldwide reality. Skill shortages exist despite 24 consecutive quarters of year-on-year growth in the number of apprentices and trainees in training in Queensland. By comparison, nationally there has been a fall year on year for the past seven quarters. In 2006-07 we are anticipating continued record growth in apprenticeships and traineeships in Queensland with an estimated 58,000 to 60,000 new commencements. Over the next four years we will, in partnership with industry, make an even greater effort to boost numbers in training, particularly in industries with skill shortages. By 2010 we aim to provide an additional 17,000 new trade training places and 14,000 new paraprofessional training places a year. A significant part of that training effort will occur in reinvigorated TAFE Queensland, which currently has some 31,000 apprentices in training—a jump of 64 per cent in the past four years. The increase is happening right across the state. The past year has been a busy one in the area of industrial relations, with new legislation and the continued campaign to get a fair deal for everyone concerned about the impact of the federal government’s new industrial laws. WorkChoices has impacted heavily on workplaces around the country, and the Queensland government has launched High Court action seeking to overturn the legislation and bring fairness and balance back into the state’s industrial relations system. The court has heard all the evidence and is expected to make a decision before the end of the year. The Queensland government has also asked the state Industrial Relations Commission to report on the impact of WorkChoices to see if something cannot be done to offset the appalling assault on workers’ pay and conditions that is being reported to the Department of Industrial Relations information lines. We have also been active in seeking to make workplaces safer, fairer and more equitable. The Beattie government has passed legislation to protect child workers and to ensure that employees have right of access to their union representatives for workplace health and safety matters, and it has acted on growing community concerns regarding asbestos in the workplace and for home owners to bring in new laws regarding its management and removal. Record funding for sport and recreation activities of $287 million in 2006-07 will serve to consolidate Queensland’s growing reputation as Australia’s active state. This government is committed to building healthier communities by helping more Queenslanders get active regardless of their age, 13 Jul 2006 Estimates Committee C—Employment, Training & Industrial Relations, & Sport 3 ability or location. This state provides more funding for sport and active recreation than any other state or territory government in Australia, because we believe that regular physical activity is one of the best ways to improve our quality of life, both individually and as a community. In total, clubs, councils, sporting bodies and other eligible organisations will receive more than $50 million in sport and recreation grants to support over 1,300 projects across the length and breadth of the state. To support our successful and popular spectator sports, our budget includes $72.2 million to fund the first year of construction of the 25,000-seat stadium at Robina to be the home of the Gold Coast Titans National Rugby League franchise. Queensland’s premier sporting event, the Lexmark Indy 300 on the Gold Coast, will receive $11.2 million this year and $11.4 million for the 2007 event. Finally, I can report that popular community programs such as the Get Active Queensland Schools program, Locker Room, Building Activity Communities workshops, women and girls forums and early childhood workshops will also be continued in 2006-07 and there will be a comprehensive campaign run in partnership with Queensland Health to help tackle overweight and obesity. CHAIR: Thank you, Minister. The first round of questions is from the non-government members. Mr LINGARD: Your government has given great promotion to a proposal for a Young Athlete Assistance Program to assist children and young people with travel and accommodation costs where they have been selected to participate in state, national and international level sporting events.