Question: Hi and Congratulations on being elected and for your great work that i have been following to date.



The Question I have is a general broad one. Apprenticeships and lack of them.



This is a large unnoticed problems in our community, It is fact that we are not producing enough tradesmen to replace those that are retiring or leaving thier profession. The current Government says thier are so many shortages and promotes trades more and more.



However the apprenticeships are JUST NOT THERE



The companies are not employing them as it hurts there bottom line. small business dont have enough incentives and dont want the hassle.



I myself and looking for an apprenticeship in Electrical . I have been looking and trying for over a year... Every time i attend interviews information sessions the story is the same, they have 500-600 even more applicants for 1 job. It is clear there is a huge problem here the government is promoting but is not providing and it is our future as a country that is suffering for it. I have been following the socialist party for some time now and feel this is an issue that is understated and needs to be brought up to the table



My Question is: What would/could a socialist government/party do to address this incresing problem?



Answer from Stephen Jolly:

Dear Clinton,

Thanks for your question.



We, as a party, stand for a massive boost in expenditure to education to the degree that it becomes free and accessible for all, not just the rich. On the basis of a socialist government taking into public ownership under workers control and management, the top 150 companies, we can undertake an economic plan that would shift resources to infrastructure, education, health, housing etc at the expense of defence, advertising, speculation and so on.



We think it the current 'skills shortage' was an inevitable result of user pays, HECS, underfunding of Tafe, and greedy bosses refusing to train young workers.



On Council, I chair the new Youth Advisory Committee and one change we are going to propose to the full Council meeting in April is that we user our leverage with contractors and only give tenders to firms who take on apprentices and to developers who stick to the union push for 1 apprentice for every 5 tradespersons.



Keep in touch and let us know your views on all this.



Regards

Stephen Jolly

Dear Mayor Kay Meadows,

Writing on behalf of the residents who live along Chandler Hwy and Rex Avenue, Alpington, I would like to personally thank the Yarra City Council, and Stephen Jolly for his recent reaction to an email I addressed to him.



Over the past 5 months I have 'pestered' several representatives of the council, many of whom worked for the Open Space program, in the hope that the council would install a light over a reserve used for parking on the corner of Chandler Hwy and Rex Avenue.



For the most part, I felt ignored. Rarely did I receive a response to the countless emails I wrote, or phone messages I left on office answering machines. When I did speak to someone, despite having spoken to them about this issue in the past, I was forced to 'refresh their memory', which led me to believe few of them, if any, took the issue seriously.



At the end of my patience, I desperately attached email addresses of council officials, including that of Stephen Jolly, and asked for some feedback, even if it was to say 'no, this won't be happening'.



Mr. Jolly far exceeded my expectations. On receiving the email, he instantly called me, and asked if I had any more concerns or information. He made it clear the obstacles I would be facing, but also assured me there were many routes 'we' could take.



Mr. Jolly showed genuine concern for myself, and the other residents who are constantly victim to what I believe could be an avoidable crime (the vandalism of their cars and theft of their belongings from the carpark).



Regardless of whether or not Mr. Jolly had agreed with me, I would still like to thank him for merely treating my concerns as a serious concern despite my informal approach, and not merely an annoyance, or inconvenience at best.



Instead he was polite, efficient and extremely considerate. He is a credit to the council, and I can not tell you what a refreshing change it was to deal with someone in a government position who made the people a priority, and not the red tape.



For your own information, the light has now been installed and, to my knowledge, there has so far been no example of criminal behaviour at that location.



Thank you very much.



Tom