Arch Bevis said the Trades Training Centre, together with the new buildings being constructed in every primary school, marked a strong commitment by the Federal Government to education in the Brisbane electorate.

The Trades Training Centre is teaching more than more than 380 students across Queensland in a range of aviation-related qualifications, including aircraft maintenance engineering using world-class equipment including a wind tunnel and flight simulator.

Aviation High School at Hendra is a national leader in teaching aviation subjects. Such is the standing of the school that families have relocated from interstate so their children could enrol.

Ms Gillard said Aviation High School received $1.5 million to construct a new state-of-the-art aeroskills workshop in round one of the ten-year Trades Training Centres’ program that will see every high school in Australia eligible for between $500,000 and $1.5 million.

Schools can also pool their entitlement with other local schools to create larger, shared facilities.

For Minister Gillard, the opening of the new facilities was a return visit to Aviation High School as she had announced the results of Round One of the Trades Training Centres at the school twenty months ago.

She said the Trades Training Centre program was a part of the Government’s moves to reduce future skills shortages by integrating high school studies with the training needed to acquire a trade.

Mr Wilson said the Queensland Government had invested $6 million in a redevelopment of the school and this new Trade Training Centre was another example of the Australian and State Governments working together in Queensland schools.

Further information on the Trades Training Centres in Schools Program is available at www.tradetrainingcentres.deewr.gov.au.