Unions Tasmania is appalled that the Legislative Council has today passed the Gutwein Governments TAFE privatisation legislation.

On the last sitting day for the year, they have failed to properly scrutinise the legislation or they would have determined what we know to be true this Bill will not improve TAFE but threatens to see our premier public vocational education provider corporatised and turned into a business while hardworking TasTAFE employees face an uncertain and insecure future.

Comments attributable to Jessica Munday:

It is a sad day for TasTAFE with the passage of this legislation. TAFE students and staff were looking to the Legislative Council to stand up for them and they failed to do so.

We are deeply disappointed that our parliamentary leaders believed the Liberals spin. The main aim of these laws is to push workers out of the public service and into a private sector jurisdiction where their jobs can be easily contracted off and casualised.

Tasmania has the highest percentage of insecure work in all of Australia. Almost 27% of Tasmanian workers are casual. In a year where the Morrison Government has made it easier to casualise jobs by changing the Fair Work Act, the Gutwein Government have put secure jobs in TAFE at risk.

Add this to the lack of any evidence that these changes will improve education for students and there was just no excuse for passing this Bill.

ENDS.

For further information: Jessica Munday 0417 454 809

Media release - TasTAFE Bill passage crippling for public education.pdf