Anthony Albanese to announce $31m mobile TAFE centres during visit to the 2025 Garma Festival

News.com.au

5 days ago

Anthony Albanese will promise mobile TAFE centres to train Indigenous students in remote communities, with the Prime Minister set to make the announcement when he attends the Garma Festival in remote Arnhem Land this weekend.
The $31m commitment, to be delivered alongside state and territory governments, will allow teachers to travel Australia using utes and trailers to train students in construction, mining, agriculture, carpentry, plumbing and community work, to ensure Indigenous people don't have to leave their communities to access that training.
'So that instead of communities relying on drive-in, drive-out workers to build and maintain the new homes we are delivering … locals get that training,' he is expected to say on Saturday.
'And instead of people having to move away from home to prepare for a career in mining or agriculture, construction or the care economy, we will bring skills and jobs to communities.
'Hands-on training, on country.'
Labor will also promise $75m to help resource-strapped native title holders negotiate land use deals, to 'secure better deals, drive faster approvals and deliver a real and lasting economic legacy for communities.
'We must end the stalemate that arises when native title organisations with little in the way of back of house, or legal and commercial expertise, are expected to negotiate with multinational firms,' he will say.
'This is the tone and the standard we want this partnership to set, from the very start – pragmatic action that brings economic development, ownership and equity to communities.
'Not doubling-up on advice, or getting in the way of processes that are working.'
In what will be his fourth time attending the large-scale event as Prime Minister, Mr Albanese will say that Labor's second term of government will be focused on 'delivery', with the government shifting focus to boosting economic empowerment among Indigenous Australians following the failure of the Voice referendum.
It also coincides with this week's release of the Closing the Gap report which revealed Australia was only on track to meet four out of 19 targets, with efforts to reduce rates of Indigenous adult imprisonment, suicide rates and removing children in out-of-home care, and bring them in line with non-Indigenous peoples worsening.
Australia was, however, expected to reach its targets to boost Indigenous preschool enrolments, employment and two land rights goals.
Although Mr Albanese is expected to concede that there is 'more to do,' he will urge that 'closing the gap is a challenge all of us must meet' and took aim at the 'culture wars' instigated by the Coalition.
This follows a successful motion at the WA Liberal Party state conference, which was supported by high-profile Liberal senator Michaelia Cash, and called for Welcome to Country ceremonies to be banned at official events.
Instead Mr Albanese will call on people to push back against people who 'choose the cheap politics of division over the patient work of lasting change or who seek to turn the grace and generosity of a welcome to country into a political weapon'.
'Culture wars are a dry gully. They offer us nothing, they lead us nowhere,' he will say.
'The way forward is to invest in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, trust in their aspirations and draw from their knowledge because when we lay these strong foundations together, there is no limit to what we can build.'
New Liberal leader Sussan Ley will not attend the Garma Festival.
Instead, shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser – who stood down from the front bench in 2023 because of his support of the Voice – will represent the Coalition.
Ms Ley will, instead, travel to the Kimberley in Western Australia for a four-day listening tour with Indigenous communities and organisations.
The Opposition Leader will also be joined by Coalition spokeswoman for Indigenous Australians Kerrynne Liddle and WA MP for Durack Melissa Price.
Ms Ley said Mr Albanese had a 'personal obligation' to use his appearance at the Garma Festival to detail his government's plan to closing the gap.
'It is not good enough to just give speeches at festivals, we need to see his plan,' she said.
'Since the Voice Anthony Albanese has stepped back from Indigenous issues, that is not good enough. He led the referendum process, a process which was unsuccessful. So what is his path forward?'
The four-day event, which started on Friday, will be the 25th anniversary of the Garma festival, which celebrates Yolngu culture – the name of Aboriginal peoples who inhabit northeastern Arnhem Land.
The theme of this year's festival is 'rom ga waŋa wataŋu', or 'the law of the land, standing firm'.