After poaching a contract from Tasmania worth $36 million, TAFE Queensland has begun advertising roles for the Pacific Boat Patrol Program targeting Tasmania staff.
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Job advertisements have been listed on employment search provider Seek, with several roles such as TAFE teacher - maritime engineering among those offered.
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The job ads list Tasmania as the target market for the role, but further down in the advertisement, it lists Cairns as the preferred location.
"As the training contractor, TAFE Queensland will provide all technical and non-technical training to crews from 12 Pacific Island Countries and Timor-Leste who operate Guardian Patrol Boats (GPBs), which are gifted by the Australian Government," the advertisement reads.
The Australian Maritime College at Newnham had previously taught the training contract for nearly 30 years.
Despite putting in a bid that the AMC described as aggressive, acting Defence Minister Marise Payne announced on March 10 that the tender had been awarded to TAFE Queensland.
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At the time, AMC principal Michael van Balen said "the majority of staff" who were working on the patrol boat program had been redeployed to other parts of the business.
However, on Tuesday, he declined to comment further on the job advertisements or whether work was being done to ensure staff expertise would not be lost to the AMC. He also refused to comment on if some employees were redundant as part of the contract's loss.
AMC's commercial arm AMC Search had delivered the program.
Member for Bass Bridget Archer said she understood AMC was working to deploy affected staff.
"AMC is experiencing rapid growth in a number of areas including defence, revalidation training, commercial simulations and vessel chartering," she said.
"Combined with the $30 million in federal government funding for the Defence Precinct, our world-class maritime college is going from strength to strength."
Ms Archer did not answer if she had been briefed by her federal counterparts on whether the contract's loss would disadvantage Tasmania. However, she said if some staff wanted to follow work to Queensland, it would be a matter for them."
TAFE Queensland chief executive Mary Campbell said a number of positions related to the contract were being advertised.
"TAFE Queensland has a fair and equitable recruitment process and is encouraging interested applicants from across Australia to apply for these and all future positions," she said.