
Issue No 114		05 October 2001

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Corporate IT Training in Labor's Sights

A Beazley Government would review the dominance of corporate-based training of IT workers to ensure workers have a rounded skills base, according to Labor's education spokesman Michael Lee.

In an interview with Workers Online, Lee has conceded concerns exist about the way major softwear manufactures spin-off training as part of their business model.

"Some of the company-based IT training does lead to secure employment," Lee says. "But it is also important that young people have the opportunity to learn IT skills that would allow them the widest possible choice of employment in future years."

"We need to make sure that there is a balance in the training that young people are undertaking, so that yes, it does give them the chance to apply for the jobs that need specific skills, but that the curriculum is wide enough to ensure that future job opportunities are not restricted in an unfair way."

Lee says there is a key role for both Federal and State governments in addressing the ongoing crisis in IT skills in Australia.

"The first start is making sure that the Commonwealth government invests more in the national training system, and that is an area where we will be making announcements during the election campaign," Lee says.

In the interview, lee also concedes it may have been a mistake to back the Howard Government's school funding formula in the Senate last year.

"In some ways we bogged down on that one," he says. "But the short answer to that is that we sent requests from the Senate back to the House of Representatives on that Bill on more occasions than any other Bill since 1912.

"We did our best working with many of the public education lobby groups to put maximum pressure on the government to amend their Bill, but they didn't."

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Issue 114 contents

Interview: Thinking Smart
With education a key priority, Labor's spokesman Michael Lee will emerge as a key player in the upcoming campaign.

Unions: In the Spotlight
The Public Education Convention placed the spotlight firmly on the performance and prospects of our federal politicians.

Campaign Diary: Election Form Guide
So they're off and racing in the 2001 stakes. Right now it's looking more like a handicap, but we're going along for the ride.

Education: Applying the Blowtorch
Veronica Apap reports on how teachers are planning to elevate education in the upcoming federal campaign.

History: Australia�s Orwell
Stephen Holt argues that the life of Jim Maloney contained echoes of the literary legend's own political journey.

International: Brazil Loses Child Labour Warrior
The global trade union movement against child labour has lost one of their brightest forces to a brutal assassination.

E-Change: 3.4 The New Governance
In the last instalment in their series on technological change, Peter Lewis and Michael Gadiel look at the challenges politics has yet to meet.

Satire: Qantas Denies New $7770 Domestic Fares 'Exploitative'
Australia's largest domestic carrier Qantas has rejected suggestions that it's new $7770 fares between Sydney and Melbourne are taking advantage of the airline's recently inherited monopoly.

Review: Dark Music for Dark Souls
The term Industrial Music represents a wide variety and coalition of musical forms, Adam Lincoln explains.

» Corporate IT Training in Labor's Sights

» Ansett Battle Moves to Top End of Town

» Ansett Families Jeer Howard The Saboteur

» Ansett Workers Hit the Hustings

» Email Bullies in Medibank Pay-Back

» Unions to Campaign Against Workplace Racism

» WorkCover's Adverts 'Devoid of Meaning'

» Principals Warn Of Critical Shortage

» Nurses Release Federal Policy Proposals

» The Aged Care Monster

» IT Workers Get Union Voice

» New Partnership for Sustainable Energy Industry

» One Hundred Strike Over Crane Accident

» CEPU Official for Telstra Board

» Qld Casual Workers Pay Increases

» The Workers United, Need a New Slogan!

» Activists Notebook

» Vale: Frank Belan

» The Soapbox

» Sport

» Trades Hall

» Tool Shed

» The President and the Terrorist

» Confessions of a Grand Final Loser

» A Plan for Australia

» Sleeping on the Job

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