Mr. Tim Fenn:

As the Senator mentioned the word "apprentice", we would like to say something about it. Two systems are in place at present. There are traditional apprenticeships that are both on- and off-the-job and new apprenticeships where the employer gets to pay all the costs. A grants system is in place but we would like to see equality between the two structures of apprenticeships. Again, it is one of those things where there is always a challenge where you have a training centre, an employer and a person's residence. Quite often, these are some distance from one another. This brings us back to the challenge of local transport in local communities and local areas and how that is working. Not everybody can afford a car to drive to work. We always try to ask the Government to relook at ways of improving transport in rural areas. That also feeds into the challenges around some of the road networks and trying to keep lorries out of towns and all that kind of stuff.

For us, apprenticeships are a very important part of where we would like to go because the earn and learn model is very important for some people who are not minded to go to college for three years or whatever. A big part of where our industry is focused is making sure that people who are minded to come to work in our industry are looked after by us. They do not necessarily have to have high qualifications but we are duty-bound to provide the education and advancement structures to them, the recognition of their learning, and the ability for them to have a great experience while they are working in our industry.