The Queensland government has announced a new era for Manufacturing Skills Queensland in a bid to fix the state’s skills shortage.
The government says it will deliver a “fresh look” to the organisation to back the state’s manufacturing workforce and tackle the skills shortage in the sector.
The independent skills and training organisation will revamp its board to include industry experts with strong manufacturing, governance and financial viability experience.
April Cavanagh has been chosen to lead the board, with the experienced non-executive director and current Chair of Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise to lead the manufacturing organisation.
Cavanagh will be supported by directors Michael Ross Bonanno, Jake Gundry, Fiona McDonnell and Natalie Rogers, alongside two government representatives.
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With the state’s manufacturing industry employing 180,000 people, the government is looking to reverse the skills shortage. The announcement comes hot on the heels of the new TAFE Centre of Excellence for Advanced Manufacturing in Moreton Bay that will train manufacturing and construction workers in the area.
The commitment forms part of the state government’s $201.1 million plan for four new TAFE Centre of Excellence sites across the state to secure a pipeline of skilled manufacturing workers.
Queensland finance, trade, training and employment minister Ros Bates says the board presents new opportunities for the manufacturing industry.
“We are fixing Labor’s widespread failures and a key component of that is putting the right people in the right positions, so I am very happy that April Cavanagh will be leading an experienced team,” Bates says.
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