Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Sustainable Development and Cities) Share this | Hansard source

The coalition will not oppose the Higher Education Support Amendment (2009 Budget Measures) Bill 2009. In fact, the coalition support a number of the measures relating to the deregulation of the higher education sector, greater flexibility for institutions and an endeavour to be more responsive to student demands. Mr Deputy Speaker Bevis, perhaps you, who have been in this parliament longer than I have, might reflect as I do on these changes and wonder why these revelations are so appropriate now when efforts to make changes of this kind when the coalition was in government were opposed. There were vitriolic orations from Labor members about what an evil thing deregulation in higher education and flexibility and responsiveness to student demand would be, yet in government we see a different face of the ALP.

A number of these measures do respond to the Bradley review, but it is worth noting, in response to some of the comments of members opposite, that it does not embrace all of the Bradley review recommendations. In fact, it falls a considerable distance short of funding commitments that the Bradley review recommended. That is something that no doubt will be the subject of further debate. I would have thought that the very closely related issues of changes to Youth Allowance—what that means in reduced eligibility for over 30,000 students—and the mystery that surrounds the precise nature and array of scholarship related support, given that this bill dismantles and abolishes the present array of Commonwealth scholarships, should have been dealt with in conjunction with this bill, because those instruments are very important in achieving the ambition that Bradley outlined, which the government seeks to associate itself with in the bill before the parliament night.

I will touch a bit more on that, and how it relates to the community that I am a part of, but I should declare a pecuniary interest as the chairperson of the Monash Peninsula Campus Community Advisory Council. My strong ongoing interest has seen me carry out that highly paid and highly sought after role, trying to make sure that outer metropolitan interests are reflected in the plans of a terrific university like Monash for the future. When we see so many of the quality academic institutions being pretty much in the heart of our biggest cities, having outer urban campuses and regional campuses is very important and having a strong voice in support of them is equally important. Hopefully, having declared that interest, I will bring some of the insights to bear that that role provides me.

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