Justine Keay (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Indi for bringing forward this very important matter of regional universities for debate. Universities play a critical role in regional Australia, and I am a beneficiary of one of them. They are an active presence in regional communities, providing pathways to a tertiary education that would otherwise not be available. In my electorate, having a local presence is absolutely vital when you consider the disproportionate number of people engaged in higher education in regional areas. The Torrens University publication Social Health Atlases of Australia states that Braddon school leaver participation in higher education, at an average of 18.58 per cent, is lower than the Tasmanian average of 29.2 per cent and the Australian average of 31.3 per cent. More needs to be done, but I am heartened by the commitment by the University of Tasmania to retaining the Cradle Coast campus in my electorate, in Burnie. The Cradle Coast campus offers full degrees plus, now, associate degrees for a wide range of courses. Currently there are around 800 students enrolled. The Cradle Coast campus also offers a range of opportunities for course and research-based postgraduate study, located at the Cradle Coast campus, directly related to local industry needs. This includes PhDs in agricultural science through the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture and in regional development through the Institute for Regional Development.

To build on this work, I was also pleased that during the 2016 election campaign the Leader of the Opposition committed $150 million to the UTAS Northern Transformation Project. The proposal includes new research and teaching facilities in Launceston and a new learning centre in Burnie at the Cradle Coast campus. It will offer even more opportunities for regional students and more study options. UTAS estimates the project will draw more than 12,000 new students and create 3,100 jobs.

It is somewhat telling that the Prime Minister was dragged kicking and screaming to match Labor's commitment in the dying days of the election campaign. When you look at what the coalition is trying to do to higher education for regional students, it is easy to understand why there was such a delay. The coalition just does not get it. First, there were the $100,000 degrees and massive cuts under the former Prime Minister that would have hit regional students the hardest. This Prime Minister is no better. He is trying to impose a $4 billion cut to universities, increase student fees and reduce the payment threshold for HELP.

Overall, these cuts mean approximately $51.3 million will be lost from the University of Tasmania. These cuts could see the end of the highly successful Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program, or HEPPP, which was introduced by Labor. The Liberals and Nationals have already cut nearly $200 million from the HEPPP program. Under Labor, HEPPP increased Indigenous student numbers by 26 per cent and regional student numbers by 30 per cent, and supported more than 36,000 extra students from low-income families to attend university. I recently read that the Group of Eight, which used 30 per cent of its HEPPP funding for outreach into regional areas, could also be under threat.

Former UTAS vice-chancellor Peter Rathjen has previously been on the public record as saying that these cuts to UTAS could threaten the future of regional campuses. What sort of madness is it when decisions of this government potentially threaten the viability of regional campuses like Cradle Coast? What sort of madness is it when the government is prepared to invest $150 million in UTAS infrastructure for the Northern Transformation Project, but at the same time threaten its viability and potentially starve students of the opportunity to attend? The Turnbull government has clearly lost the plot when it comes to supporting universities in regional areas. Cutting funding, axing programs, putting up fees and reducing the payment threshold for HELP all combine to make it harder for regional students to obtain a higher education.

Rather than continue to cut in the mould of his predecessor, the Prime Minister should look to Labor. We introduced the demand-driven funding system that saw more than 190,000 additional places for university, many in regional areas. Opportunities for regional students grew under Labor. Under the coalition, they will most certainly shrink. It is time those opposite, especially from the regions, followed Labor's lead.

See this speech in context