News

Thursday, 4 February 2021

CPSU NSW begins fight to save TAFE Scone campus


Scone Closure – Feb 21 (PDF version)

On 18 January 2021 TAFE NSW wrote to the CPSU NSW with advice to the effect that NSW Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education, the Hon. Dr Geoff Lee had approved the divestment of the TAFE campus at Scone.

The proposed sale of this beautiful campus at Scone is not only an attack on the local economies in the Hunter, it is an attack on post-secondary education in NSW.

The way the Government justifies selling our public assets is by following the usual formula of systematically downgrading and defunding the asset, then it presents the argument the asset is a financially unviable concern. In this case it has defunded courses that once thrived at Scone TAFE and effectively redirected many of those courses to the private education market.

As some members would have seen, the Shadow TAFE Minister Jihad Dib was quick off the mark and got some good local coverage in the local press.

The CPSU NSW wrote back to TAFE expressing our opposition to the sale. Your union requested TAFE put a hold on the sale until it released to us, as a matter of transparency and accountability, all documentation that has been prepared to demonstrate how this proposed divestment of this publicly owned site will meet the needs of students, the local community and the local economy. Specifically, we sought a divestment report or similar, as well as the study on impact of the sale on the Scone community.

We will meet with TAFE officers to obtain this information in coming days.

Action opposing sale of Scone TAFE

On Wednesday 27 January a delegation, which included Opposition leader Jodie McKay, Shadow Minister for TAFE, Jihad Dib, the Teachers Federation and Electrical Trades Union industrial staff, as well as CPSU NSW organisers and delegates, held an action outside the Scone campus which attracted local ABC and NBN 3 coverage.

We will continue to collaborate with other unions, the local Hunter community groups and politicians of all stripes to highlight the complete absurdity of privatising this site, especially when it is becoming increasingly clear TAFE needs to be at the forefront of creating the tens of thousands of new green jobs required as our economy moves to carbon neutrality by 2050.

Not a member of the CPSU NSW?

Join the union HERE.

Join the Rebuild Our TAFE campaign HERE.

Contact the CPSU NSW

Matthew Drake-Brockman Industrial Officer

Shane Jobberns Organiser

Delegates

Southern Region

Wollongong
Regina Kimmich

Brad Cowie

Karline Lindsell

Leeton
Nicholas Wright

Wagga Wagga
Dave Prowse

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Parkes
Leanne Riley

Dubbo
Suzie McMartin

North Region

Gosford
Gale Iseppi

Newcastle
Helen Crooks

Tighes Hill
Liz Garlick

Hamilton
Stephen O’Brien

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Walter Upson

Coffs Harbour
Brook Down

Port Macquarie
Marc Fearby

Wollongbar
Paul Dennis

Sydney Region

Ultimo
Simon Gray

Jeff Bar-David

Janaka Biyanwila

Frank Dunn

St Leonards

Joe Harris

Hornsby

Patrick Kiss

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Campbelltown
Tracey Doyle

Thomas Bank

Richmond
Dannii Sabharwal

Blue Mountains
Glenda Pryor

Strathfield
Isabella Ramirra

TAFE Digital

Strathfield
Scott O’Brien