Why Canberra should be a hothouse for 'green' transport skills

But with the ACT government's tram project central to reducing emissions, why are we waiting? Is light rail really the environmental panacea it is cracked up to be? We need to be focusing on developing local skills, rather than relying on a privatised tram network to take care of Canberra's future.

One could be forgiven for thinking that the skills needed to electrify the transport sector are predominantly of the science and engineering kind. This usually leads to a single technological solution in search of a problem, like focusing on old-fashioned trams to fix our transport emissions woes. Or focusing on cramped human living conditions to reduce our environmental footprints. All such approaches failed in the past and no amount of wishful thinking will make it any different now. In the meantime, other low-hanging fruit is being ignored by the ACT government.

Increasingly, software developers, asset managers, and other professionals are leaving Australia for greener pastures, impacting our ability to meet the skills demanded by the transport sector. The ACT's penchant for leading the environmental zeitgeist means the region is well-placed to become a hothouse for green skills in the transport sector. But aside from a few pockets of specialisation to date, the territory has not focused on the necessary skills requirements.

In recent years, education and skills providers have focused on using more technology to deliver teaching. The focus must now switch to researching and teaching the skills and technologies that make Australian factories, transport operators, and related employers sustainable and competitive. Despite Canberra hosting the Commonwealth's Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics, Transport Canberra, the major transport industry bodies such as the Australian Automobile Association, the Australian Airports Association, and the Australasian Railways Association and major defence transport and logistics headquarters here and in the region to name a few, local educational courses that develop transport-related skills and education barely exist.

The situation is surprising given that transport is specifically listed in the National Science and Research Priorities. While the new draft priorities shift the focus towards a net-zero and resilient future, transport emissions account for 19 per cent of emissions nationally and the transport sector is likely to be the largest emitter by 2030 if things don't change. The ACT government must focus on developing the necessary green skills in the transport sector if it is serious about leading the nation in reducing emissions. Stage 2B of the tram alone (which we are still waiting to learn about) won't cut it.

The skills necessary to ensure emissions reductions in the transport sector are more than just those related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses. Electric cars, trucks, and buses require advanced and localised electrical infrastructure. Skilled transport operators need to understand the hard skills that enable the various types of EV batteries to be charged in a way that provides reliable operations without voiding warranties that currently extend out to some eight years. In the rush to be green, it is apparent that the ACT government has focused on picking winners rather than developing skills and capabilities.

Asset managers will need to develop new sets of skills. Training in safety, hazard reduction, and fire and emergency services specific to electrification will all be a necessary part of the skills mix. At present, spent batteries are returned to overseas manufacturers for refurbishment or resource recovery. Do we really need to send these away when we could do it here if we knew how? The possibilities for the territory to become a hothouse for such research and skills are endless.

Yet such a vision is far from the present reality.

The higher education and training sectors in the territory are disappointingly disconnected from industry. And the future skills challenges are much more down to earth than we might imagine. Internships are a great idea, but these tend to be resource-intensive. Micro-credentials are another way to provide ongoing, tailored training, but currently, these tend to be focused on soft skills. What we really need for our net-zero future are strategic and hard skills that make the system work. Not just studies in the morality of the green movement.

It is not too far-fetched to imagine electric buses and trucks being manufactured, assembled, or repaired in the ACT. Resource recovery operations from the vast number of batteries we will need to electrify the transport sector, not to mention the ability to use a fleet of batteries to store energy to firm the grid, could diversify the territory's economy in line with our future aspirations.

At present, transport operators throughout Australia and the world are learning by doing. Research and skills centres that are focused on the needs of the ACT and region will provide opportunities for jobs while ensuring our path to net zero doesn't break the bank. But this new knowledge will be hard-won, and it won't happen if the ACT's education and skills providers continue to ignore the transport sector. With so much money potentially being thrown at light rail, the lack of skills development is not only a case of outsourcing light rail, but a case of outsourcing our future capabilities and responsibilities.