It is amazing that the NSW government thinks hiring well paid spin merchants to spruik their TAFE vandalism policies will deceive the people of New England. 

While Mr Peter Heilbruth, the recently appointed TAFE New England institute director maintains that the people of New England have nothing to fear from the so called Smart and Skilled reforms, he knows from personal experience, firstly at Gipps TAFE (which no longer exists) and then at South West TAFE in Victoria, that the same reforms have decimated TAFE in Victoria, closing campuses and leaving TAFE with only 27 per cent of market share. 

The reforms in Victoria have been so destructive, at a time of high youth unemployment and a regional ice epidemic, that the Coalition government lost the election on the  weekend based upon its failure to look after TAFE. 

New England voters might remember my words at our election in March 2015 and they may also remember that Kevin Anderson signed a pledge to say he would look after TAFE. 

However, already over $3 million of salary has been cut from TAFE New England.

Real job losses, for real people in our towns with all the flow-on effects to our economy that we know so well and more cuts have been flagged for 2015. 

The real hurt will be felt in January 2015 when our New England community discovers the huge fee increases and reduced choices that will be available to them. 

TAFE plays a vital role in our community, delivering trade training across 11 locations. TAFE New England also run partnership courses with local schools to retain young people at school.

These courses will no longer be funded. Funding for courses for adults who need to read and write, for women returning to the workforce, and for people who need to learn English has been slashed by over 50 per cent. 

Support for students with a disability has been decimated. This will have a profound impact particularly on the deaf community. 

If you wish to study at a diploma or advanced diploma level you either pay thousands of dollars or sign up for this thing called “Vet Fee Help” which the spin merchants describe as being “like HECS”.

However, it is not like HECS at all. There is no government subsidy, the student pays 100 percent of the cost and the loan is calculated at compounding interest. 

To make matters worse, now that Vocational Education has been opened up as a “market” the dodgy operators are circling and have already exploited vulnerable students, leaving them with no skills and large debt. 

In Victoria signing up students to dodgy courses that did not provide any education blew the state budget out and transferred taxpayers’ money into the pockets of profit making corporations. 

Watch out New England, because already agents for shonky private providers are doorknocking and signing up vulnerable people to debt. 

Across Australia communities have become so worried that there is now a federal senate inquiry into private vocational education and training providers and Choice Australia has an investigation into dodgy training organisations at investigation@choice.com.aus

What a shame that something that has failed everywhere else should be foisted on the citizens of New England at the expense of our TAFE system!