Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in favour of the member for Sydney's motion regarding this government's constant cuts and attacks on our universities. It is indeed a very timely motion, with so many new students starting uni and with orientation weeks across the country last week. With more than a million students resuming their university studies in the coming weeks, it is very timely that we are discussing this very important motion.

I particularly note in this motion the government's failure to release its plans for university funding and fees and the real uncertainty this creates for students planning to commence their studies in 2018 and beyond. This government repeatedly puts forward plans to cut university funding. The magnitude of these cuts will not only put at risk the quality of higher education provided by Australian universities but they are also at odds with the government's rhetoric, which claims they want to reinvigorate the economy through education, research and innovation. Well, you cannot do that by cutting education funding—that is the reality. Australia's world-class university system is evolving to support a transition that is under way across the economy and workforce, a process that cannot be achieved while making cuts of this scale.

It was Labor that opened the doors of our universities to thousands more Australians, and we are very proud of that. A Labor government would stand on our strong record of investment in education, including at the last election where we committed to investing more in our universities and significantly increasing per student funding and investing more in schools, because success at university depends on a great school education. In fact, Labor went to the last election with a promise to spend around $50 billion on universities and schools, which is the same amount the Liberals and Nationals are prepared to give away in tax cuts to big business and multinationals. It is all a question of priorities and all a question of choices. We choose funding education; they choose tax breaks for multinationals and big business. It shows what their priorities are.

Labor's story has always been one of vision; we have always been the party committed to education. In contrast, the Liberal-National government's counterproductive plan for our education system includes wanting to introduce $100,000 degrees, creating unfair debts for students and ensuring only the most well-off would get to go to university. This is especially unfair for those kids from rural and regional areas, like my electorate in northern New South Wales. Parents constantly tell me that university is just not going to be on their radar for their children if we see these massive increases and we see $100,000 university degrees.

It is estimated that by 2020, two out of every three jobs created in Australia will require a diploma or a higher qualification. The government's policies fail to recognise this and would see us fall behind, committing us to a lower standard of living and lower incomes for those students. The reality is that universities across Australia are facing very significant budget cuts under this government. It is a concern for students, for their parents, for their families and for teaching staff right across the board. These are major, major cuts that they are looking at and they will be absolutely catastrophic.

We have seen all sorts of evidence from economists, the OECD, the Australia Institute and so many others that show investment in education builds a more prosperous nation, it is good for our economy, it is good for our students and that there are multiple benefits. At present, Australian students already pay some of the highest tuition fees in the OECD, second only to the US. Under these circumstances already, the Turnbull government's plans to cut public investment by at least 20 per cent per student and make students pay significantly more cannot be justified. It is a cruel choice and an unfair choice as well. It will impact those in our communities who most need to support to actually get to university.

The government is also cutting $152 million in funding from the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program. This program is a very important one that aims to ensure that those Australians from lower socioeconomic backgrounds who have the ability to study at university have the opportunity to actually get there—but the government wants to cut that. This program provides funding to assist universities to undertake activities and implement strategies that improve access to undergraduate courses, as well as, really importantly, improve the retention and completion rates of those students to actually keep them at university. Of course, the government is going to cut that, because it is a program that will help so many students, particularly from those lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Funding for this program and funding for a full Indigenous program should be restored to assist universities with these essential targeted equity and access programs. That is what we need to have in place.

But in recent years, higher education policy has been in chaos under this government. During the election, the Liberal-National government did not release a single higher education policy, because, quite frankly, they do not care. Instead, they have had 25 reviews, inquiries and talkfests—that is all we hear. They have got these massive cuts in place, in addition to the uncertainty of the one-year funding agreements that are really holding back our universities and our students. Anybody who says that there is not a relationship between funding and the quality of education is just kidding themselves; it is an excuse to not properly fund it. Labor believes education is critical to Australia's future and to a strong economy for secure jobs.

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