Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

CQUniversity is the prominent university in my electorate of Capricornia. I am pleased to announce that 20 nursing students from CQUniversity will head to Nepal to increase their knowledge and skills thanks to a new mobile study grant provided by the Australian government. The students will undertake a nursing study tour in 2015 under the government's New Colombo Plan. As part of the tour, students will take part in a full-time three-week placement at two Nepalese hospitals. This is a wonderful opportunity for them to broaden their medical knowledge and live, study and work overseas.

Clinical supervision and academic support will be provided by CQUniversity and Nepal's Pokhara University. The 20 undergraduate students are among 3,000 young Australians to receive mobility grants to live, study and work in the Indo-Pacific region in 2015. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Education Minister Christopher Pyne indicate the grants are part of the Australian government's flagship New Colombo Plan in which Australian students spend time learning overseas. New Colombo Plan mobility grants support undergraduate students to undertake study, clinical placements, internships and mentorships, as well as short-term research in 32 destinations such as Pakistan, Mongolia, Nepal and the Cook Islands.

While on the subject of learning from overseas, I am pleased to announce that a Rockhampton kindergarten will trial a new government Asian language program. The South Rockhampton Kindergarten has been selected as one of only 40 sites across Australia to participate in our federal government trial called the Early Learning Languages Australia, or ELLA, program. The program uses digital apps to provide the opportunity for students to learn the basics of a second language in the year before they start school. Children at a very young age have the ability to learn new things quite quickly. The ability to learn about a second language broadens their skills later in life, particularly as Australia reaches out to places like China and Japan for future trade agreements. South Rockhampton Kindergarten is located near the city's Japanese Gardens at the Rockhampton Botanic Gardens and it is likely the students could learn the basic elements of Japanese. They may also touch on Mandarin, Indonesian, Arabic or French.

I would also like to wish all the Merry Christmas and thank my supporters and wonderful staff for all the hard work this year. Chris, Kylie, Janine, Mark, Karla and Thomas: I could not do it without you. To my wonderful family: thank you for keeping things running while I am away. My electorate of Capricornia is the powerhouse of the nation and I will continue to work hard to get the recognition we deserve after years of neglect by Labor.

Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! In accordance with standing order 193 the time for constituency statements has concluded.