The Minns Labor Government must come clean on its plans for TAFE NSW after Budget Papers revealed a significant reduction in the value of TAFE\u2019s property assets while former TAFE sites are being placed on the market.
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Shadow Minister for Skills, TAFE and Tertiary Education Justin Clancy said the sale of the former St George TAFE site at 16\u201320 Hogben Street, Kogarah had raised serious questions about the Government\u2019s long-term plans for the TAFE estate.
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\u201cAt a time when New South Wales is crying out for more skilled workers, the Government should be explaining how it is strengthening TAFE, not quietly selling off TAFE land,\u201d Mr Clancy said.
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\u201cThe Budget Papers handed down last week show the value of TAFE NSW\u2019s Property, Plant and Equipment falling from $5.66 billion in the revised 2025-26 estimates to $5.43 billion in 2026-27.\u201d
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\u201cAt the same time, a former TAFE property at Kogarah is being marketed for sale on behalf of the NSW Government.\u201d
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Member for Oatley Mark Coure said the proposed sale was creating uncertainty for the local community.
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\u201cPeople want to know what the Government\u2019s plan is. If TAFE sites are being sold, the community deserves transparency about why they\u2019re being sold, what the proceeds will be used for and how vocational education in our region will be strengthened as a result,\u201d Mr Coure said.
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\u201cTAFE has served our community for generations. Any decision affecting these sites should be open, transparent and focused on delivering better outcomes for students and local families.\u201d
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Mr Clancy said the questions raised by the Kogarah site reflected broader concerns about the future of the TAFE estate across New South Wales.
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\u201cThese developments raise obvious questions. Is this an isolated sale, or part of a broader strategy to reduce the TAFE estate? How many other former or current TAFE properties are earmarked for disposal? And will every dollar raised be reinvested back into TAFE?\u201d
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Mr Clancy said the Government owed students, staff and communities greater transparency.
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\u201cCommunities invest in TAFE over generations. They rightly expect that if a TAFE asset is sold, the proceeds will be reinvested into vocational education and training.\u201d
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\u201cThe Government cannot claim to be backing skills while the TAFE asset base is shrinking, and communities are left wondering what comes next.\u201d
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Mr Clancy said he would be seeking answers from the Government on the extent of any planned property disposals and the future of the TAFE estate.
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\u201cNew South Wales needs a stronger TAFE network to support the next generation of skilled workers. The Government should be investing in TAFE\u2019s future, not creating uncertainty about its assets.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Minns Labor Government must come clean on its plans for TAFE NSW after Budget Papers revealed a significant reduction in the value of TAFE\u2019s property assets while former TAFE sites are being placed on the market.\u00a0Shadow Minister for Skills, TAFE and Tertiary Education Justin Clancy said the sale of the former St George TAFE … Continue reading “Labor must explain shrinking TAFE asset base”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39699"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39700,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39699\/revisions\/39700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}