A defence workforce strategy is not expected to be made public before submarine decision is made
Defence has developed a strategy for addressing skills shortages in the workforce – but it may not be released until after a decision is made on SA or WA taking the Collins Class maintenance.
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A blueprint to address skills shortages for Australia’s $90 billion Defence shipbuilding program is not expected to be released until next year.
It will follow a decision on whether South Australia keeps a lucrative submarine contract or if it switches interstate.
The West Australian State Government maintains South Australia is not able to provide a long-term skilled workforce to carry out crucial submarine repair work.
Defence has confirmed the national naval shipbuilding workforce strategy, that may have been able to provide the answer, is not expected to be delivered until the first half of 2020.
“A total of 33 submissions were received … from a cross-section of public stakeholders including: defence industry major contractors; small and medium sized businesses; State and Territory Governments; education and training providers; peak and professional bodies; and individuals,” a Defence spokeswoman told The Advertiser.
“Key themes centred on workforce demand modelling; education and skilling; workforce mobility; domestic and international competition; and diversity and culture in the workplace.”
Both the SA and WA governments have confirmed they have put forward submissions to Defence, but both have said they will not make the reports public.
Premier Steven Marshall said the State Government understood the need to ensure SA could take advantage the “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” the defence program will provide.
“We’ve already set ourselves an ambitious target to create 20,800 additional apprenticeships and traineeships in South Australia over the next four years, thanks to a $200 million funding agreement struck by the Liberal Government,” he said.
Mr Marshall came under fire in state parliament on Wednesday over his handling of the negotiations around the submarine contract.
The State Opposition released a formal submission, in the form of a 16-page glossy document, arguing WA’s case to steal the contract was “high risk.”
“West Australia is running a well-funded, high profile public campaign to steal our jobs, while Steven Marshall is sitting back and hoping,” Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas said.
“We must do everything we can to make the case to keep these jobs here and this submission is one element of that.”
Mr Marshall dismissed a suggestion any submissions SA has made to the Federal Government should be made public.
“I would have thought the expert in strategy might not have wanted us to give our submission to the West Australians,” Mr Marshall told state parliament.