At the Jobs and Skills Summit South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas proposed  a defence workforce plan – which he will get. There’s already a model of how not to do it

The Commonwealth backed the premier’s proposal. Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy says the SA shipbuilding workforce will triple to 9000 by 2037 (with no mention of nuclear submarines) and that a workforce taskforce, “will bring together key stakeholders from government, unions, universities, training providers, business and industry to develop solutions to the most critical challenges.”

The two ministers are not the first to focus on expanding a skilled defence manufacturing workforce for SA.

In March ’17 then Defence Industry Minister Chris Pyne announced what was originally to be called the Maritime Technical College, “to ensure that Australia’s future shipbuilding projects have the skills available when they are required.” It then evolved into the Naval Shipbuilding College, charged with identifying needed skills and working with institutions that teach them (CMM February 18 2019).

So how was that going then senator Rex Patrick asked an official the next year who replied, “the name perhaps is a slight misnomer”  (CMM March 2 2020). Perhaps more than slight “the Naval Shipbuilding College supports job seekers through providing personalised career and training advice, to help you secure employment,” its www states.