A week of intense Canberra lobbying to forward the Printing Industry Association’s core policy objectives on energy, vocational training and tax reform, saw Andrew Macaulay, CEO engage with a range of politicians including Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, and leading cross benchers.
His visit coincided with the Federal Government finally starting to address the crisis in vocational educational and training by appointing, former New Zealand tertiary education minister, Steven Joyce, to head a review of the sector. According to Macaulay, the subject was front and centre during his meeting with the Prime Minister.
“The printing industry is demanding a user-focused, relevant and modernised curriculum on a national basis. We want national funding and tax recognition of the contributions made by printers in taking on apprentices,” he said.
“Following the latest round of meetings in Canberra I am convinced we can rely on the crossbenches to support our policy objectives not only on education and training, but also on the need for lower tax and less compliance overheads for SME printers as well as lower energy costs.”
Among others Macaulay met with Bob Katter, David Leyonhjelm and Pauline Hanson to advance his agenda. He believes there is value in eliciting the support of the cross bench representatives and senators on behalf of the printing industry.
“I believe it’s vital to influence Government policy on cheaper and reliable energy and tax reform as well as more industry specific policies, such as reining in Australia Post. I want to turn up the heat on Australia Post to stop them raising prices whenever they feel like it. We need to make it clear to politicians on how damaging it is to the printing industry.”
The review of the vocational sector is the first since 1972 when the current TAFE system was virtually created. Since then training and vocational education has suffered a thousand cuts in privatisation and the dismemberment of the TAFE system. The Government is offering one-off payments of $4,000 to businesses that give jobs to those aged 21 to 24 years.
"The review will ensure Australians have the right skills to get a job," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said during a speech in Canberra on Wednesday night.
"I want even more Australians to get jobs, and that means ensuring they have the right skills to drive an even stronger economy."