Welcome to this signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between CQUniversity and the Queensland State Government, an occasion that marks the public launch of our shared commitment to build a new TAFE campus of Central Queensland Institute of TAFE and a School Trade Training Centre at CQU Mackay.

These facilities are a significant milestone in our community's vision to develop CQUniversity Mackay as a community-wide resource and into a Knowledge Village. This vision, led by Head of Campus, Dr Trevor Davison, seeks to bring together a variety of educational institutions, research groups and community organisations to develop a range of learning pathways, to provide a ‘one-stop-shop' for employers with specific education and training needs and to create commercial partnerships in mutual research and commercial interests.

Just as importantly, the development of these and future facilities will provide significant resource efficiencies and exciting opportunities for shared educational programs that the co-location of a variety of providers can offer.

The University got started on the Knowledge Village vision by purchasing 6 hectares of privately-owned land, enabling us to develop the full 42 hectare site. Enacting this vision has, and continues to require, the active engagement by the University with Mackay industry and broader community to identify how it can best serve the region.

These facilities that are the focus of today's signing are a direct result of that engagement.

Other examples of such engagement include a partnership with the Federal government to construct a new, 2-storey Library [which you can all see]. The ground floor of this new facility will contain a new refectory for staff and students, and commercial offices for lease to the community. A new floodlit sports court is also about to be constructed, also made possible by a partnership between the federal government and the university.

CQUniversity also hosts a $2.2 million Pathways project that has involved shared financial investment from the University and federal government. This project will create better career pathways for, and within, the mining industry.

The University is also a partner with the recently formed Mining Innovation Centre in Mackay and has a significant role in the research aspects of its work.

Further engagement of the University with the region has seen a significant use of the campus facilities by a broad range of users and the increased involvement of staff with the community. For example, the surrounding artwork is provided by the graduates of the Master of Arts students from the University of Tasmania, a program which is made possible by a partnership between CQUniversity and the University of Tasmania whereby campus and University facilities are made available to the staff and students.

In all of these examples, we're benefiting by leveraging our community's power of place - the University's ability to draw on the strengths that exist in the communities we serve and our ability to equally give back to those same communities through research, learning and teaching and other services.

You here today are a strength on which I want this University to continue to draw, especially as we think about introducing new programs (in areas such as health, sport and engineering), broadening community access to courses and giving our students greater control over their learning environment and outcomes.

We operate here, a region of Australia that is characterised by its spirit of independence, innovation and "can-do" approach. These are your traits and traits many of our students come with and it is these traits we want to instil in all of our students.

I am very excited by the range of opportunities provided by today's tangible partnership between the University, the state government and the federal government and the ‘power of place' this campus represents.

This occasion signifies a bright future for Mackay and I look forward to the University continuing to be actively engaged with the local and broader community through its own initiatives and in partnership with TAFE, schools, RTOs, business and industry.