Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

I take this opportunity to thank the members who spoke on these education services bills. The fact is that there has been a particularly constructive response by the government to the Baird review. We recognise that the issues raised by the former member for Cook were worthy of consideration and we have treated them as a consequence. This government fully recognises the contribution that the international education sector makes: it generates significant export income for this country of some $19 billion annually and supports a number of jobs across Australia. We fully acknowledge the importance of the contribution and support it. I make a final point. The government notes that this package is part of a larger set of reforms, including re-registration of all providers in 2010, strengthening and better targeting the student visa program and the establishment of national regulation in the tertiary sector. All of these are working towards the same goal: to ensure that international education offered in Australia is of the highest quality. On that basis this bill is commended to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a third time.

See this speech in context