Portfolio — 8 August 2026

The window for Bundoora is dominated by a single sustained theme: manufacturing capability and workforce development, surfacing in both the Assembly and across ministerial media releases. The Member for Bundoora, the Minister for Industry and Advanced Manufacturing and Minister for Skills and TAFE, Mr Brooks, has used each recorded forum to advance a connected argument — that Victoria's industrial future depends on cultivating technical excellence, and that the people who build that capability deserve formal recognition.

In the Assembly, Mr Brooks rose to pay tribute to Michael Bourchier, co-founder of Amiga Engineering, whose death he described as a profound loss to Victoria's manufacturing community. He traced Mr Bourchier's career from an apprenticeship as a fitter and turner at Toyota to building a Tullamarine-based family business into an internationally recognised advanced manufacturer [TA-260730-vichns-06b70b591935:s027].

The technical achievements Mr Brooks placed on the record were precise: Amiga became one of only a handful of companies worldwide capable of metal 3D printing in tungsten, and the only Australian company certified to print in Scalmalloy [TA-260730-vichns-06b70b591935:s027]. Beyond the technical record, Mr Brooks cast Mr Bourchier as a mentor whose commitment to collaboration and knowledge-sharing strengthened capability across Victoria and shaped the next generation of manufacturers.

The ministerial media releases extend that same manufacturing-and-skills axis into concrete policy announcements. The Minister launched Australia's first accredited Certificate III in Prefabrication Installation, developed through Melbourne Polytechnic's Future of Housing Construction Centre of Excellence to train workers in modern methods of construction for faster and cheaper home building [TA-260716-vicmed-6122b5401b55].

The qualification sits at the intersection of two pressing Victorian priorities — housing supply and workforce pipeline — and signals an intent to use accreditation as a lever to accelerate prefabrication's uptake in construction. Separately, the Apprentice Helpdesk has now supported nearly 3,500 apprentices and trainees since its launch, providing advice on entitlements, training contracts, mental health, and workplace rights [TA-260709-vicmed-cc203dcd9823].

The scale of uptake points to sustained demand for the service. A $1.95 million investment through the TAFE Technology Fund upgraded manufacturing facilities at Chisholm Institute's Dandenong campus, enabling up to 800 Victorian students annually to train in advanced CNC and coordinate measuring machine technology [TA-260714-vicmed-487ad87bac7c]. The Dandenong campus investment connects directly to the precision engineering tradition Mr Brooks honoured in his Assembly tribute — the same skills that defined Mr Bourchier's career are the skills the Government is now funding TAFE to teach at scale.

The window also captured a machinery-of-government announcement: Mr Brooks, as Minister for Skills and TAFE, announced the appointment of 16 Parliamentary Secretaries across portfolios including emergency services, housing and homelessness, mental health and suicide prevention, and health.