John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

You like an apple, do you? Macquarie Park is the home of dozens of multinational and local companies at the cutting edge of medical, transport and communications technologies. At the heart of this innovation precinct is Macquarie University, the driver of so many of our breakthroughs. We must always remember that behind these institutions, the breakthroughs, the companies and the university are people. No-one makes the exciting journey without the ability to attend classes and step on the first rung of the ladder and, more prosaically, without the ability to pay for it. This is why the Higher Education Loan Program, HELP, is such an integral part of our education system. HELP allows people to go to university who wouldn't have been able to afford it otherwise. It allows thousands of Australians to access higher education.

Getting as many people from as many different backgrounds as possible is essential to bring together the different viewpoints that make our universities more dynamic and to create the outside-the-box thinking that provokes the next great breakthrough. So it is important that this act will extend the Higher Education Loan Program, HELP, eligibility to former permanent humanitarian visa holders. Former permanent humanitarian visa holders who transition to a different visa due to travelling outside of Australia will now be able to retain their HELP eligibility. Permanent humanitarian visa holders are eligible for a HELP loan, which assists this vulnerable cohort of students to participate and contribute to the Australian economy. This is not a negligible cohort. In 2019, 4,346 permanent humanitarian visa holders accessed HELP loans. These students have the potential to see the greatest transformation of their fortunes through education, and the contribution they can make to Australia is exciting and inspiring.

HELP eligibility requirements are intended to remain stable for students who have met the citizenship and residency requirements and who reside in Australia. The measure corrects an oversight that was not considered during the crafting of the citizenship and residency requirements for HELP. Correcting this oversight supports positive outcomes for the student and the taxpayer and it prevents the student from losing their HELP eligibility pathway through their course, which could have terrible outcomes, especially for this vulnerable cohort of students. The Minister for Education will determine the applicable visa subclasses that retain HELP eligibility for former permanent humanitarian visa holders through a legislative instrument. This will ensure these amendments remain flexible and responsive to any future changes to the Migration Act 1958. This measure ensures that this cohort's continued HELP eligibility is aligned with other eligible Australian residents, and is an important reform.

The government is committed to our universities and particularly committed to STEM, which is the driver for everything that happens in our innovative corner of Sydney. According to universities and tertiary education access centres, new commencements across Australia are up 7.3 per cent, including 13 per cent in science, 12 per cent in IT and 10 per cent in engineering. This is very promising news. To build on this, we're creating up to 30,000 additional university places in 2021 and up to 100,000 places by 2030 and bringing down the cost of degrees in key areas. The cost of a maths degree is now down 59 per cent; the cost of nursing and teaching degrees has gone down 42 per cent; and the cost of science, engineering and IT degrees has gone down by 18 per cent. These are the degrees that will keep us growing, inventing, caring and learning. These are the degrees that will set our students up to compete around the world in new and exciting fields.

We know that 2020 was a tough year for students and particularly for universities, that have not been able to rely on the funding from the international students who have been such a large part of their model. Obviously we can't open the borders soon enough for this and other sectors. But, with COVID cases spiking in many parts of the world, we must always balance our economic desires against the safety of Australians. So I'm glad to see that the Morrison government is providing a record $20 billion investment in the higher education sector in 2021. Total funding is up more than 37 per cent since we came to government. In the 2020 budget, there was $298.5 million in additional funding. This year for undergraduate places there is $252 million for up to 50,000 additional short course places. We also injected $1 billion to back university research during the pandemic.

Our policies have already seen the youth unemployment rate recover by 1.7 per cent in December. We will continue to back young Australians to get into a job. Though 2020 was tough for unis and many young people, I'm confident that Australia's management of the COVID virus and the ongoing rollout of vaccines both locally and around the world will mean that our universities will soon be back to the cosmopolitan and international centres they have been in the past. Bennelong and Australia have a great innovation heritage thanks to the excellence of our universities, and I look forward to seeing them continue going from strength to strength in the coming years.

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