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TAFE closure claim denied

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TAFE NSW has denied claims that it plans to sell off the Narrandera and Deniliquin campuses.

Helen Dalton at Deniliquin
Helen Dalton at Deniliquin.

The denial was in response to claims by the Member for Murray Helen Dalton that a secret briefing note tabled in NSW Parliament Budget Estimates on October 28 revealed TAFE NSW wanted approval to sell off 19 TAFE campuses across Regional NSW, including in Deniliquin and Narrandera.

“Basically, the NSW Government want to flog off the TAFE buildings and turn regional TAFE centres into online learning hubs, with remote access learning,” Mrs Dalton said.

However these claims have been denied by TAFE NSW, which stated that during the recent Budget Estimates Hearing, both the Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education and the Managing Director of TAFE NSW indicated they had not reviewed or approved the document tabled by the Opposition, and referenced by the Member for Murray.

“TAFE NSW can confirm there is no plan to sell TAFE NSW Narrandera or Deniliquin. In fact, the NSW Government has invested more than $10 million over the last few years across these two locations to ensure students have increased access to courses, teachers, support services, and the latest learning technologies,” the spokesperson said.

“TAFE NSW is expanding its training in regional communities, providing locals with the flexibility of both a face-to-face and digitally-enabled delivery. “

In a statement issued this week Mrs Dalton said it was likely students in Deniliquin and Narrandera would lose access to hands-on trade and automotive courses.

“Deniliquin’s TAFE have already lost carpentry and plumbing. More young people will be forced to leave town to continue their education,” she said.

When questioned in NSW Budget Estimates, NSW Liberal Party TAFE Minister Geoff Lee said he couldn’t remember the briefing note about the sell-off of TAFE Campuses.

“This Government have already sold off 13 TAFE Campuses,” Mrs Dalton said.

“Selling off rural assets is something they do so often, they don’t even remember it. We need to keep Deniliquin and Narrandera TAFE buildings in public hands.”

“We should be investing more in TAFE, not less. I sometimes wonder if this Government want to kill off all of regional NSW and force us all to move to Sydney.”

“I will fight this decision when NSW Parliament resumes this month. I’d urge the community to contact the TAFE Minister and Narrandera’s National Party representative Steph Cooke and urge them to stop this destruction of Regional NSW.”

Narrandera Argus 11 November 2021

This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 11 November 2021.

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