On Thursday, Opposition education spokeswoman Michelle O’Byrne used the hearing to ask Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff to confirm the allegations. 

Ms O’Byrne told the hearing former chief executive Stephen Conway had allegedly used students to repair and maintain three wooden boats. 

Last month, Mr Conway indicated his intention to resign following Integrity Commission findings.

Mr Rockliff said he took all allegations into the case seriously and tenders would soon go out for an independent audit into TasTAFE. 

“There has been some challenging times, we recognise that, the brand has no doubt been damaged, but I will ensure no stone is left unturned,” he told the hearing. 

“Any concerns brought to me by the public and former employees of TasTAFE ... will become part of the audit process.” 

Acting TasTAFE chief executive Mark Sayer told the committee work on the boats had now ceased and that the results of the 12-month audit would be reported quarterly. 

“One of the greatest concerns that staff have at the moment, and there are about 800 staff, is that they are feeling the impact of the behaviour of a very few,” Mr Sayer said.

“That negative impact on staff is something that can really undermine morale at the moment.”

Mr Rockliff said the government was not interested in privatising TasTAFE, saying it was too important to the community. 

Turning to questions concerning Gonski 2.0, Mr Rockliff was asked why he was the only education minister in the nation to support a new schools federal funding model. 

“Of course we are disappointed that Gonski 2.0 is less than Gonski 1, of course we have reserved our right to always fight for more funding for our schools,” he said. 

“But the fact is, we need funding certainty for our schools.” 

Mr Rockliff also used the estimates hearing to announce that the Autism Class Support Program would expand to Romaine Park Primary School in Burnie and Summerdale Primary School in Launceston. 

The classrooms are designed with the needs of those on the autism spectrum in mind and the program is set to include specific support staff and specially-designed learning spaces to be rolled out from term three.  

Mr Rockliff added that in 2016, 56.4 per cent of year 12 students achieved their Tasmanian Certificate of Education, up from figures in previous years. 

When questioned over disability education and funding levels for students, Mr Rockliff said the government was working towards needs-based funding but had concerns over Nationally Consistent Collection of Data inconsistencies between the states. 

“The way that Tasmania reflects just 12 per cent and another state up to 20, that would be unfair,” he said. 

“We’re moving towards that model and we’ve got to be careful when we implement that model because there might be some losers in that and I want to make sure that we don’t have losers.”

PRIMARY INDUSTRIES

Turning to his Primary Industries portfolio, Mr Rockliff was initially faced with a line of questions of Greens leader Cassy O’Connor over farming at Okehampton Bay. 

On Thursday, Mr Rockliff revealed the government planned to ban salmon farming beyond the existing Okehampton Bay lease.

But Ms O’Connor said the government failed to adequately consult with members of the East Coast community leaving members feeling ignored. 

She asked when the decision was made to make the announcement but Mr Rockliff would not say when he made the decision.

“We are working on a sustainable industry growth plan which involved consultation with the community, consultation with industry, consultation with other industry players,” he said. 

“I wanted the community to have confidence in the industry.”