Gippsland › Latest news › Peter Walsh MP

Shearer training two years in the making, but still not delivering results

Rehashed shearer training announced.

By Portal Admin - 30th November 2020 - Back to News

The Andrews Labor Government attempted to pull the wool over Victorians’ eyes with its rehashed shearer training announcement today. The funding for shearer training was first announced in the lead-up to the 2018 State Election.
But by May this year, just 35 of the 125 enrolments were filled and just two of eight promised locations actually delivering the training. Shadow Minister for Agriculture Peter Walsh said border closures had made it harder for Victorian woolgrowers to secure labour.

The industry needs more investment and initiatives to deal with the shearer shortage and assisting more experienced shearers to undertake training roles, improving shearing’s image and countering the shearer shortage

Shearer shortage in the future

Mr Walsh said, "The Andrews Labor Government is all headline and no deadline, leaving our regional communities no better off than where we started, the coronavirus pandemic has put the squeeze on farms to attract workers, including shearing teams, and we’d have more skilled workers trained up by now if Daniel Andrews and his Agriculture Minister hadn’t dropped the ball."

"The wool industry is eager to see the next generation of shearers come through. But Labor’s all bark and no bite and it’s leaving farmers and the wool industry no closer to solving this critical skills shortage," added Mr. Walsh.

Pictures from EWE & I Shearing Services Facebook page.

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: support@gippsland.com