The Western Australian Government has opened the new $9.5 million Agriculture Machinery Training Centre at Muresk Institute.
Premier Roger Cook, Training Minister Simone McGurk, and Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis officially opened the specialist training facility, marking a new era of training at the facility.
“This new specialist training facility is a fantastic example of the State Government working together with industry to help meet demand for skilled workers,” Premier Cook said.
“Students will benefit from world-class learning environments in Muresk’s new facilities, which will produce skilled workers for WA’s vital agricultural industry and help to maximise efficient and effective farming practices to stay competitive internationally,” the Premier added.
Muresk Institute has been the home of agricultural training in Western Australia for nearly a century. It is situated on a functioning farm in the Wheatbelt, ensuring industry-driven education and training opportunities are available to satisfy the demand for skilled workers.
“The new facilities have been designed following extensive industry consultation, ensuring students will be job-ready once their training is complete,” Minister McGurk said.
“These state-of-the-art facilities and equipment are the culmination of a strong partnership between the agricultural machinery industry, Central Regional TAFE and Muresk Institute to lift the quality of training for agriculture machinery apprentices in WA.”
The Agriculture Machinery Training Centre modernises and enhances the facilities at Muresk Institute. Apprentices completing a Certificate III in Agricultural Mechanical Technology at Central Regional TAFE will be among the first to receive training in the new workshops, classrooms, and information technology laboratories.
Muresk and Central Regional TAFE collaborated closely with industry to create the apprenticeship, which will help fulfil the demand for trained technicians and mechanics.
Qualified technicians with trade abilities for mechanical, electrical, hydraulic operations, precision equipment, and braking will service all sorts of agricultural machinery across WA’s broadacre farming sector once trained.
A new $800,000 industry-standard shearing shed at the Muresk Institute was also recently built, providing students with high-quality wool handling and shearing training.
Additionally, the State Government delivered two state-of-the-art combine harvester simulators and various other agricultural machinery options, offering a realistic farm experience in a training environment.
“Primary industries are increasingly adopting innovative technology and the modernised training facility at the Muresk Institute in Northam will help foster our farmers of the future,” Minister Jarvis said.
The majority of construction was done by regional WA commercial builder ACorp Construction Pty Ltd, while another regional WA company, GBSC Yurra, erected the new shearing shed.
