Louise Markus (Greenway, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about a matter which has united my community. In late June this year the board of directors of the University of Western Sydney, without consultation with stakeholders, the community, the federal member or the government, announced that it would be closing the Blacktown campus—just like that. How can a university make a decision to close the only campus in the north-west region without consulting the community or its students? The university tells us that the numbers on the campus are decreasing. Of course they are, and no wonder.

The University of Western Sydney has progressively moved courses off the Blacktown campus and, logically, students will only choose courses they want to do. This explains why there are only 2,705 students on the site. Upon hearing the announcement, I got to work organising a meeting between the minister and the vice-chancellor and I prepared a petition to be mailed out to all the households in the electorate. I would like to thank the hundreds of people who have already signed the petition. The Labor candidate for Greenway has called this petition a sham. I wonder whether any of the people who have signed it and mailed it, faxed it or brought it back think so. What the Labor candidate does not realise is that people power does work—which is why people have signed this petition and why Blacktown City Council have also started a petition asking people to ‘save UWS Nirimba’. I wonder whether the Labor candidate will be telling his state and federal Labor council colleagues that their petition is a sham as well. As I have committed, I will continue to fight to ensure that the youth of the north-west sector are not robbed of choice. The removal of this campus will mean our youth will have to travel to Parramatta or Penrith to study for a university degree that they may otherwise have been able to do at the Blacktown campus.

A few weeks ago the Minister for Education, Science and Training, Julie Bishop, and I met with the chancellor and the deputy vice-chancellor to discuss the closure and options. I was extremely disappointed that the vice-chancellor, Janice Reid, could not be there. She was in Melbourne attending a function—a birthday party, I understand. During that meeting we were assured by the University of Western Sydney that the community and students would be consulted. The student consultations are happening. By chance last week when I was at Blacktown campus, a student walked past and mentioned that the student forums were happening at that point in time. I am extremely disappointed that I was not made aware of these forums—as the university had committed to do—so that I could attend and hear firsthand what the students had to say. I am sure that my federal colleagues would also like to have known about the consultations so that they too could hear what the students want.

Like many people in the community, I am extremely disappointed that the board of directors has made a decision, without consultation, which will have a great impact on the community. The University of Western Sydney told the minister and I at the meeting that it was not an issue of funding but that they wanted to consolidate their campuses to ensure quality education. What about the choice of access to quality education for our youth in the north-west sector?

I was delighted last week to be able to announce the greenfield site for the Australian Technical College of Western Sydney at Schofields, right next to Nirimba. My job as the federal member for Greenway is to continue to fight to ensure the youth of the north-west sector have choice. (Time expired)

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