The Labor Party should closely read the government’s policy before it wades in and causes unnecessary angst in local Tasmanian communities. 

When it starts operations in 2018 the Maritime Technical College will be a skills initiative spanning the country.

It will ensure that we have the right training in place for the 5000 plus workers who will be directly employed as a result of the government’s $89 billion naval shipbuilding program.

This will not be a centralised scheme.

Rather it will utilise existing institutions from across the country to ensure we train, and train quickly, the workers we need to begin production on the Offshore Patrol Vessels in 2018, the Future Frigates in 2020 and the Future Submarines in 2022-2023.

The Turnbull Government made a strategic decision to rebuild our navy right here in Australia, using Australian workers, in a Australian shipyard, using Australian steel.

It’s our intention to ensure that across the country the benefits of this important program are evident.

We want more companies like Taylor Brothers, based in Tasmania, who made cabins for the Air Warfare Destroyer, to take part in the supply chain for these and other important defence projects.

To begin with the skills needed for this historic national endeavour will primarily focus on the fabrication and metal working trades, such as boiler making, fitting and turning and welding.

Whilst many tradespeople have these skills it will be important to re-skills them so that can apply them to the field of naval shipbuilding.

Far from shrinking, the market for skills training in naval shipbuilding will boom over the coming decade, creating a need not just for the workers on the program, but also for teachers and trainers in TAFEs and other institutions across the country.

The Maritime Technical College will operate in a hub and spoke model.

It will draw on the resources of existing institutions to meet the skills demands of Australia’s future shipbuilding industry.

This will mean someone may be a “Maritime Technical College” student but actually studying welding in Shepparton or Maritime Engineering at the Australian Maritime College.

Whilst colleges and TAFEs from across the country will benefit, there is no doubt that the first-class Australian Maritime College in Launceston stands to gain significantly from this exciting announcement.

They have the experience in delivering a number of courses which will be relevant to the naval shipbuilding program.

Whilst they don’t offer everything that is needed, there is no doubt they will play an important role in training Australia’s future shipbuilders.

Quite simply it will mean more students studying in Launceston.

Let’s be clear. The Maritime Technical College will be complementary to existing institutions rather than competitive with them.

The facts are the college will mean more students in Tasmania skilling and re-skilling for the advanced manufacturing jobs that will be created through the government’s $89 billion naval shipbuilding program.

Christopher Pyne is Defence Industry Minister and a South Australian MP where the new Australian Maritime Technical College will be built