Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Settlement) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make a very brief contribution on the Higher Education Support Amendment (Student Contribution Amounts and Other Measures) Bill 2012.

I am very fortunate to have an electorate that contains the Queensland University of Technology, referred to as QUT, which has campuses at both Kelvin Grove and Gardens Point. I am also a very proud graduate of QUT. I would like to particularly pay tribute to Vice-Chancellor Peter Coaldrake and his academic staff. They do a terrific job and I was very honoured to have the opportunity to tutor there before I came into this House in 1996 and then a couple of years ago in the business school before I re-entered the House. In the time that I taught at QUT, I taught a number of business and engineering students, particularly in the schools of business and international marketing.

I want to congratulate QUT on a number of areas but in particular on a course that has been developed under the stewardship of Professor Peter Little. It is a complex project management course which basically brings together the world's leading companies in the defence area—such as Lockheed, Boeing and many others—and the Department of Defence and works in those particularly complex areas of project management. It is a world first, and they really do need to be applauded. This is an area that gives us world capability, particularly in the areas of defence industries. But a lot of the people who are studying these courses would not have done so if they had not had a strong grounding in science and mathematics. Many of the students I see in the electorate of Brisbane who are studying at QUT are international and regional students. Many of my colleagues and others have spoken to this bill and have indicated that the coalition does not oppose this legislation. In fact, the intention of the legislation is very clear. It reinstates the student contribution amount for mathematics, statistics and science units of study to its pre-2000 level for domestic students completing a course of study on or after 1 January 2013. The bill also removes the eligibility for Commonwealth supported places and the Higher Education Loan Program for Australian citizens who commence a course of study after 1 January 2013 and do not intend to reside in Australia during their course of study.

The discount on the student contribution for mathematics, statistics and science courses was introduced by the Rudd government in December 2008, taking effect from 1 January 2009. Prime Minister Gillard was the minister for education with the absolute aim of encouraging more students to undertake these courses identified as being a great domestic need for graduates. It was the implementation of a 2007 ALP election commitment. The reversal of this policy stems from the MYEFO 2011-12 announcement of 28 November 2011. Tertiary education minister, Senator Chris Evans, said the reason maths and science undergraduates would have to pay the full rate of student contribution, which went up from $4,691 to $8,353, was that the government's policy of making them national priority areas had simply not delivered a noticeable difference in the country's dearth of maths and science graduates.

If the minister was actually genuine, this announcement was effectively an admission by the government that their policy did not work. The government has also argued that the student contribution discount was opposed by the 2009 Bradley Review of Higher Education in Australia. This policy rationale is, however, little more than a convenient excuse for a savings measure in the area of higher education.

The removal of eligibility for Commonwealth supported places and the Higher Education Loan Program schemes for Australian citizens studying overseas implements a 2012-13 budget announcement. The removal of the discount will affect all those who are currently undertaking maths, statistics and science courses in that, from 1 January 2013, they will have to pay the full student contribution for any units commenced after that date. At least some students have commenced their mathematics, statistics and science degrees in reliance on the fact their student contribution is discounted. The government is changing the position of the goalposts in the middle of the game.

I would like to put my concern regarding this on the record. If a student has commenced a course in one of the relevant areas, solely on the premise that they would not have to pay the full rate of student contribution, then they are clearly going to be hamstrung by this announcement. Perhaps the government could give us an indication of the number of students that will be affected in this way by these changes.

In addition, the government argues that the majority of students undertaking maths and science units following the discount coming into place in 2009 were not enrolled in a maths or science course of study, nor were they studying an education course. It was therefore clear the policy was not substantially increasing the number of maths and science graduates in the workforce as intended and it was not improving the supply of quality maths and science teachers. The coalition is not seeking to exempt those who have already commenced the relevant courses as this would have a significant revenue impact.

The removal of eligibility for CSPs and the HELP schemes for Australian citizens who commence a course of study after 1 January 2013 and who will not be resident in Australia for any of their course of study will affect those Australian citizens who are living overseas and intend to study online with Australian providers. Students undertaking study as part of a formal exchange or study abroad program for some of the units in their course will not be affected.

The government believes its funding priority should be to support those students who are most likely to pursue careers in Australia, commence repayment of their HECS debts, and use their education to benefit Australia's workforce and economic needs. The coalition agrees with this policy approach.

While the explanatory memorandum to this bill states that these amendments provide savings to the government of $1 billion over four years, it is interesting to note that the 2012-13 budget papers list the total savings as $340 million over the forward estimates. So perhaps the minister could clarify this apparent anomaly during his summing up on the bill. In conclusion the coalition does not oppose this bill.

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