Talks to relocate Katherine CDU trades training centre get heated
Education Minister Jo Hersey has pitched a plan to a Federal Minister, who has asked for a brief next by next weekend. Now, the ball is in Charles Darwin University’s court as relations with the Education Minister get heated.
A plan to relocate a trades training centre could materialise in the coming days, with Education Minister Jo Hersey and CDU Vice-Chancellor Scott Bowman currently engaged in talks to plant the centre next to a high school.
Education Minister Ms Hersey wants the training centre established in Katherine East - specifically, next to the local high school and gave the CDU a stinging broadside at the weekend.
Charles Darwin University’s Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Scott Bowman has fired back saying CDU deserves a fair hearing, grounded in facts rather than rhetoric.
In 2024, CDU received $2.5 million from the Commonwealth TAFE Technology Fund to establish a new Technical Trades Centre.
It was originally planned for the centre to be established at CDU’s rural campus 16km kilometres north of Katherine.
However, Ms Hersey, who Professor Bowman says originally supported the rural campus site, said the rural campus was too removed from the public and Katherine East offered more bang-for-buck.
“What I’m proposing to CDU and trying to work with them on is to have it in town between MacFarlane Primary School and the High School on Grevillea Road,” she said.
“Let’s be honest, expecting young apprentices to travel 32 kilometres a day with no public transport, no cafe, patchy mobile reception, and zero integration with local business is absurd. It’s not “regional training”, this is a deterrent.
“We as a (NT) government are going to gift that land to CDU for them to be able to build their trade training centre there and work with education to make sure that it is a very good facility that any tradie in town can access.”
Ms Hersey said she had already pitched the idea to Federal Minister for Skills and Training Andrew Giles, who visited her electorate earlier this month.
“I drove him past the proposed site,” she said.
“Explained there’s power, water and sewerage running past there, there’s a car park already done, between two schools and a shopping centre across the road.”
According to Ms Hersey, Territorian stakeholders are on countdown to brief the Federal Minister.
“He would like to have a decision made by Friday, December 19th,” she said.
“And so we’re working very hard with CDU to try and get that over the line.”
CDU Vice-Chancellor Professor Scott Bowman confirmed talks were underway.
“Negotiations with the NTG regarding the relocation of the Centre have been very positive, and we expect an outcome is imminent,” he said.
“CDU supports the relocation of the Trades Training Centre to the town centre, and I am pleased to say that we now appear to have reached an agreement, provided the revised funding and infrastructure arrangements are confirmed by the Northern Territory Government.”
The bold idea keeps the rural campus’ future in the spotlight.
Earlier this month, CDU agreed to transform the campus into a 198-bed open-security work camp which would offer prisoner rehabilitation and skills training.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro got an idea of how the arrangement would look on the ground when she received a tour of the campus alongside Ms Hersey.
Corrections Minister Gerard Maley said the campus would be put to good use.
“The Katherine facility will deliver vocational training and rural industries programs, including supervised work activities aligned with local workforce needs across the NT and Big Rivers Region,” he said.
“This builds on the success of regional work camps such as Barkly, where offenders support public works, environmental and land management projects and community services.”
Opinion: Vice-Chancellor Scott Bowman, page 13
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Originally published as Talks to relocate Katherine CDU trades training centre get heated
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