Tuesday, 3 March 2026

 Jacinta ERMACORA (Western Victoria) (13:42): My members statement is about how much it was a pleasure to join Minister Tierney as she turned the sod for the new Building Innovation and Design Centre at South West TAFE’s Sherwood Park campus in Warrnambool. This was last week, and it highlights the Labor government’s total commitment to regional education and workforce development. As CEO of South West TAFE Mark Fidge said, this project delivers industry-leading facilities that will equip our region with the skilled tradespeople essential for future growth. The centre will prepare students for careers in the automotive, construction and clean energy industries. It will feature automotive workshops and a dedicated electric vehicle training workshop. This is so exciting for our local tradies, readying them for the emerging technologies and the clean energy transition. Five million dollars from the TAFE Clean Energy Fund was contributed to this build, and it forms part of a very strong facilitative project for the Warrnambool technical college in town at the TAFE campus. We are protecting free TAFE and investing in modern facilities.