Labor’s Shadow Minister for TAFE, Skills and Training Brian Mitchell has condemned the Rockliff government’s decision to cut TasTAFE courses, arguing the cuts directly contradict the state’s urgent need for technology workers as the sector prepares to triple in size over the next decade.
Speaking at a press gathering on Parliament House lawns yesterday, Mitchell pointed to the latest ACS Australia’s Digital Pulse report showing Tasmania will need more than 32,000 tech workers by 2035, up from the current 11,200, as evidence of what he called “the foolishness of the government in cutting TasTAFE training opportunities.”
“We’re talking about web designers, illustrators, engineers, technicians.
The sorts of courses that the tech sector needs over the next 10 years are precisely the sorts of courses being cut by this government under TasTAFE,” Mitchell said.
The criticism comes as TasICT released its annual member survey revealing that 81 per cent of members believe the state government is not doing enough to advance the digital economy. The report, prepared by Deloitte Access Economics, found that 21,000 additional tech jobs could be created by 2035.
Mitchell described the cuts as particularly ill-timed given the sector’s trajectory.
“The tech sector in Tasmania is going to grow, according to this report released on the weekend, from about 11,000 workers to 33,000 workers by 2035 and yet we’re seeing TasTAFE being cut.”
The shadow minister took aim at what he described as conflicting messages from the Liberal government, with Madeleine Ogilvie, Minister for Innovation, Science and the Digital Economy promoting opportunities in the technology sector, whilst Felix Ellis, Minister for Skills and Training moves to cut relevant courses.
“Jeremy Rockliff needs to get serious. Is he for training opportunities for young Tasmanians, or is he against them?” Mitchell asked.
“Ogilvie on one hand is saying there’s great opportunities in the tech sector over the next 10 years. And meanwhile, her counterpart, Ellis, is out there cutting TasTAFE.”
Mitchell challenged the government’s claims that the 12 courses being cut are under-enrolled, directly accusing government of not telling the truth about student interest.
” We know that they say, for example, the lab technician course is under enrolled, when, in fact, there are 20 people in that course, and only 18 can fit in the lab, so they’re already on a roster.
“We know with the media course that they are cutting funding to, that that’s oversubscribed and there’s a waiting list to get into it, so they’re not telling the truth with some of those courses.”
The shadow minister’s examples directly contradict Ellis’s 6 October statement that the courses have “consistently low” enrolments with an average of only 20 learners each.
The shadow minister argued that courses in areas such as sound engineering, media and web design are essential for developing workers literate in digital technology.
“The sorts of people that we want are people who are literate in digital technology. You’ll be able to do sound engineering, media and web design. These will all feed into the tech sector over the next 10 years,” Mitchell said.
He also criticised the government’s failure to provide training for emerging technologies, noting the absence of courses related to electric vehicles despite their growing prevalence.
“What we don’t have in Tasmania either is any course to do with electric vehicles. So we’ve seen electric vehicles go off being developed and there’s no course currently under this government to train under electric vehicles. That’s the sort of thing that we do need,” he said.
Mitchell has called for 11 of the 12 courses to remain in place, with only the meat processing course considered redundant due to administrative changes.
“There are students in them. We’ve had a lot of support from the industry, from teachers, from employers pleading with us to keep these courses open because they provide a pipeline of trained, skilled workers into those jobs,” he said.
When asked about service cutbacks during a budget crisis, Mitchell placed responsibility squarely on the government’s financial management over the past 11 years.
“Young Tasmanians who are seeking skills, who are seeking opportunities, seeking a future, seeking a way to stay on the island, to stay here, to live here, to have their families here, to work here, they should not be paying the price for 11 years of budget mismanagement,” he said.
In his media release, Mitchell emphasised the disconnect between the government’s economic goals and its education policy.
“At the same time as the growing tech sector needs more workers, this incompetent Liberal government – propped up by the Greens – is strangling Tasmania’s tech labour pipeline by cutting off access to key training and skills opportunities at TasTAFE,” he wrote.
“In the midst of a population and skills crisis, it would be nice to have a government that was trying to keep young Tasmanians in Tasmania.”
Mitchell called on Premier Jeremy Rockliff to intervene directly, drawing parallels to the Premier’s recent involvement in securing funding for the Hobart mental health clinic.
“Jeremy Rockliff had to step in to make take steps to save the Hobart clinic. Jeremy Rockliff needs to take steps to save TasTAFE,” he said.
The tech sector currently contributes $1.1 billion to Tasmania’s economy and employees more than 11,200 workers with strong growth projected as artificial intelligence and digital transformation reshape industries across the state.
Media release – Brian Mitchell MHA, Shadow Minister for TAFE, Skills & Training, 20 October 2025
Report shows foolishness of Rockliff’s TAFE cuts
A new report stating Tasmania’s technology sector is set to triple over the next decade is further evidence of the foolishness of Jeremy Rockliff’s decision to cut funding to TasTAFE.
Jeremy Rockliff’s course cuts will impact young Tasmanians hoping to become technical engineers, web designers and technicians specialising in the medical, laboratory, environment and manufacturing sectors. Course cuts will also impact illustrators, graphic and web designers and sound engineers.
The tech sector already contributes $1.1 billion to Tasmania’s economy and employs more than 11,200 workers.
The Australian Computer Society Digital Pulse report states that will grow to 33,000 workers by 2035.
At the same time as the growing tech sector needs more workers, this incompetent Liberal government – propped up by the Greens – is strangling Tasmania’s tech labour pipeline by cutting off access to key training and skills opportunities at TasTAFE.
Jeremy Rockliff’s ministers are all over the place. On one hand Minister Ogilvie claims she wants to grow opportunities and on the other, Minister Ellis is cutting them. It doesn’t add up and the Premier needs to show some leadership and sort this out.
In the midst of a population and skills crisis, it would be nice to have a government that was trying to keep young Tasmanians in Tasmania.
Instead of crippling TasTAFE’s ability to deliver critical courses, the Liberal government should be looking at ways to ensure TasTAFE can play a key role in delivering the training outcomes that will be required over the next decade, and help give more Tasmanians a reason to see a future here.
Tasmanian Times (TT) is a community-based news and current affairs service covering the island state of Tasmania. It exists to provide a diverse presentation of Tasmanian issues. TT creates and supports independent media content utilising the best of modern technologies and tried-and-true practices of public-interest journalism.
Support us in expanding our coverage and developing new content by and for Tasmanians.
New initiatives on the way include … what our contributors and readers suggest! Please get in touch with your suggestions.
