Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Abbott Liberal-National government's proposed changes to higher education will have a devastating impact on students, universities and communities in regional Australia. The Minister for Education has said that regional universities will be the biggest winners from this so-called reform, but the universities themselves are saying the exact opposite. In their submission to the senate inquiry, the Regional Universities Network said:

In combination, a reduction in Government funding and real interest rate on loans will have a disproportionate impact on the regional and disadvantaged students who study at RUN universities, as well as the communities they come from.

The University of Newcastle, in my electorate, a top-10 university in Australia and our best ranked regional university, said:

The government's proposed funding arrangements may reduce the capacity for research-intensive regional universities to continue to support innovation, which would adversely impact regional communities, economies and productivity.

Regional universities help drive economic prosperity in regional Australia and provide important education opportunities for students from low-SES backgrounds, who are often the first in their families to go to university. They deserve a voice in this parliament that reflects their interests, not those of the capital cities or the old sandstones. But the members opposite either are in complete denial about what these changes will mean for their communities, like the members for Dobell and Robertson, or have gone missing in action, like the members for Paterson and Lyne.

I stand with my Labor colleagues, who understand the significance of regional unis, like Newcastle, as drivers of regional economies and productivity. (Time expired)

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