Chris Hayes (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

There are very few people, I would suggest, who would entertain the notion that education is not the key to individual or national advancement. It is widely accepted that the best way forward for any nation is to invest in its people. The best way forward is to educate people, to invest in human capital and to nurture and develop an environment in which innovation and development is encouraged. There is no doubting that.

The cornerstone of the productivity agenda that this nation needs to pursue to maintain its competitive position within the global economy is, without doubt, education. The productivity agenda that Australia must pursue to provide the best possible opportunity to secure its economic future is education; investing in our people and investing in the educational development of our youth is how we will build a future economic base for this country.

A true productivity agenda, one based on enhancing and advancing the talent of Australia’s labour force, has to be based around education—not around the single-minded productivity agenda pursued by this government, which is tantamount to slashing wages and conditions to produce a short-term economic result. That is not development and not investment in productivity; that is simply a recipe for hindering the further development of our people and at the same time limiting the opportunities that workers in this country have. Labor governments of the past had a very positive position in relation to an education agenda, and a Beazley Labor government will continue this proud tradition. I will return to that and to the comments made by my colleague in relation to Labor’s policy later.

First, I will examine the content of the Higher Education Legislation Amendment (2006 Budget and Other Measures) Bill 2006, which we have before us today. I would particularly like to make some comments on the provisions of this bill that extend education and training in the vital area of health, as that is an issue that is dear to the hearts and minds of people in my electorate. The Minister for Education, Science and Training in her second reading speech proudly informed the House:

The measures contained in this bill highlight the government’s commitment to a higher education sector based on quality, sustainability, equity and diversity.

When I first heard this statement I thought that the new minister for education must have driven a complete policy backflip through the cabinet. Alas, I was wrong. When outlining the provisions of the bill that are aimed at addressing the chronic health shortage issues faced in many areas, she went on to say:

...this bill will implement the coalition government’s recent decision to boost training in vital health courses.

That news is welcome to all members. Given the University of Western Sydney is set to be allocated 15 of the additional 600 places, I welcome it, as will the member for Macarthur, I am sure. I welcome it because it could mean an additional 15 doctors into the south-west of Sydney—assuming all the students decide to stay in general practice. That will be a great assistance to the constituents of my electorate, who are deeply concerned about the lack of general practitioners in the area.

While this is welcome news, the fact remains that, even if every single one of these additional training places turns into a general practice position, if the population did not grow and if all these additional GPs practised locally, by the time these doctors graduate it would result in only a slight reduction in the doctor-patient ratio in the south-west of Sydney. Assuming everything remained the same, by the time these students graduate the ratio of GPs to population in the electorate of Werriwa would still be of the order of 20 per cent above that recommended by the Department of Health and Ageing. That is a telling statistic—it reflects this government’s complete dereliction of duty when it comes to higher education and providing for the interests of people, particularly in the south-west of Sydney in my electorate of Werriwa. The government has no commitment to higher education. In the decade that it has been in office, there is no point trying to trick the Australian public—

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