Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Amendment Bill—it's not the catchiest title that we've had before us, but it's a worthwhile evolution of that agency—and to support the amendments moved by this side of the House. What concerns me is the fact that we are talking about this today. Having been in this chamber for 2½ years, I can say that it's not often that we get to speak about the broad quality of higher education here. It really highlights for me a lack of interest in this area by those opposite.

There was a review of the national regulator. That is the body that regulates our world-class higher education system. It looks at what's working and it looks at how it needs to be tweaked to ensure standards are met. The review of this regulator was provided to government three years ago. That's a really long time for there to be no action. I don't think the complexity of it meant that anyone was unable to get their head around it. I think it shows us that it just kind of got pushed to the side. Quite frankly, I do not get a sense of the belief we have on this side of the House. Education is a game changer for people. It transforms people's lives. They deserve quality education. Whether it's at the preschool level, primary school in the public school system, high school, TAFE or university, that quality needs to be available to people, especially at a time when we are shifting the cost to students more than they have ever seen. Those opposite have done that to an enormous degree. They have shifted the cost to students so that they now have to pay higher fees and they need to pay off their HELP debt sooner. It is only fair that they should expect a reasonable standard—a high standard of quality, in fact—that reflects the high level of fees that they are expected to pay.

Not many people have mums and dads who can afford to pay the fees. Most young people will finish TAFE or university with a debt. They will then have to spend years, at the same time that they've got this debt, trying to get themselves established in their chosen profession or career. They will have to equip themselves for that career and that role. They may also be looking at moving into a place that isn't perhaps five students squished into a four-room house. They'll be wanting to invest in themselves and their future at the same time that they've got this debt, so the cost for them to make their way in this world means it will just become really tough. I see it time and time again. I've got kids who are in their 20s. I see story after story of the challenges they face, not just when they're educating themselves but when they're taking the time to equip themselves for this world that is rapidly changing.

There will be many students right now preparing for their first semester of university. But, unfortunately, the freeze that the government has put on university places—the capping of places—means far fewer students are going to be doing that, especially in the outer western suburbs and regions like mine on the periphery of Sydney, such as the Hawkesbury and the Blue Mountains that make up the Macquarie electorate. There is no doubt that we in this place should be talking about broadening participation in higher education, in both TAFE and university, not talking about things to reduce it. Nor should we be talking about anything that reduces access or quality. Yet what we've seen from this government is the capping of university places. We have seen a slashing of research funding. Research done in universities is what's going to set us up to cope with a world that we can't even predict, and to take that away is the most short-sighted thing I can imagine. We've also seen under this government cuts to vocational and education training the likes of which no-one could contemplate or imagine, and we've also seen a failure to fund public education. We have, in addition, seen a lack of commitment to early childhood education. That is where it all starts, and it's vital that every step of that education cycle gets funded—preschool, school, vocational training and universities. That's how we create our future. That's how we make sure that we are fulfilling our responsibilities as a parliament to make the opportunities for those who are coming behind us that much easier and more suited to the world in which they're going to live.

It does concern me that this is a technical bill, and I'm very grateful that we on this side of the House have moved amendments to recognise just how important quality of education and access to education are. That's why, under a Labor government, we will also properly fund universities with three-year guaranteed funding agreements—not just 'here's a little bit to get you through the next year'. Universities need certainty in funding and they need to be able to plan. Their staff need to know that there's a future there so that they have a sense of assurance that the work they do will be able to continue and evolve. We also will uncap university places, and that is expected to lead to 200,000 more Australians having the opportunity to get an education over the next decade or so.

I think one of the most impressive things we're going to do is focus on research. As I said, I think it's just fundamental. Our $300 million university future fund, which will invest in university research and infrastructure, is part of that. In the electorate of Macquarie, we have the Western Sydney University campus at Richmond. That campus—the Hawkesbury campus—will benefit under Labor because of the incredible greenhouse that they have constructed. It is a massive glasshouse. You have never seen anything like it because there is nothing like it anywhere else in Australia. And Labor has committed to an additional $20 million in research funding that will make sure that we capitalise on the potential that we have in agriculture, in terms of working out how much water or how little water we can use to grow things, how few nutrients we can use to get the maximum benefit, and how we can grow things that will transport easily, either within Australia or, more importantly, for export. Labor's commitment to research will really pan out in my electorate in supporting our agricultural sector to be able to make the most of the opportunities as one of the most fertile areas within a short drive of Sydney. We should be growing for, and we should in fact be feeding, not just Australia but Asia.

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