TAFE Funding
Page: 1471
The Hon. JOHN DELLA BOSCA: Earlier today in question time Dr John Kaye asked me some questions about the State budget and TAFE. I am advised that, underlying increases in the State budget of TAFE and related services from the 2006-07 budget to the 2007-08 budget, the usual budget-to-budget measure means that the budget is revealed as being higher than suggested by simply comparing overall allocations to TAFE and related services. The 2006-07 budget contained one-off expenses such as redundancy payments and Commonwealth payments for the new Apprenticeship Support Service. The usual way in which these things are measured is to ignore one-off expenses. When this is done the underlying increase this year for the TAFE and related services budget is about 4.5 per cent. I can advise the House that TAFE colleges around the State are major beneficiaries of our overall education and training spending. In the 2006-07 budget—
The Hon. Robyn Parker: Part-time teachers are becoming concerned.
The Hon. JOHN DELLA BOSCA: I acknowledge the interjection of the honourable member. The figure is a record $11.2 billion, to be precise. The investment in TAFE New South Wales and related services is $1.8 billion, an increase of $55 million on the previous budget.