SENATOR THE HON KIM CARR
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INNOVATION, INDUSTRY, SCIENCE AND RESEARCH
SENATOR FOR VICTORIA

GED KEARNEY MP
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR BATMAN

A Shorten Labor Government will invest $10m to build a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) Innovations Centre in Preston to best prepare the students of northern Melbourne for the jobs of the future.

The Centre, based at the Northern College of the Arts and Technology (NCAT) in Preston, will be the first of its kind.

The Centre will connect industry, universities, and local schools to create new forms of partnerships in education and research.

It will provide facilities for students from local schools throughout Batman to access the latest technology and provide pathways to high skill jobs in industry. 

 Now is the time for the north of Melbourne to take advantage of its existing capabilities in advanced manufacturing, including the food and chemicals manufacturing industries and companies still servicing the automotive supply chain.

 The Centre will bring together expertise from manufacturers, universities, research institutes and TAFEs and complement it with the high quality and practical education programs that NCAT provide in science, technology, the arts and industry collaboration.

This initiative will facilitate growth in advanced manufacturing and design jobs in the north of Melbourne.

It will directly benefit young people in the north by giving them the foundational capabilities they would otherwise have missed out on.

Labor will work with the Victorian Government to integrate the Centre as part of the Victorian Tech School initiative.

Only Labor is willing to invest in young Australians to give them the skills they will need for the jobs of the future.