Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The University of the Sunshine Coast in my constituency is emblematic of the transformation that is going on throughout our region. Like the Sunshine Coast as a whole, the university is growing fast and offering our young people new opportunities all the time. This year, a record 4,800 new students began studying at USC, bringing the total number to 13,450. This is three times as many people as studied there in 2005. The university has begun to offer new courses like midwifery and combined degrees in innovative ways. Students at the Coast can now study, for example, Bachelor of Laws with Bachelor of Environmental Management.

Dispelling the notion that young people are not engaged in politics, in the time I recently spent on the Liberal National Club's O-Week stall we had a great many students come to talk to us about the political process and the issues that they face. Fifty people signed up to find out more about politics in Australia. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Michael Negerevich for organising the stall, as well as Dr Adrian McCallum, Jak Hardy, Melissa Smith and my good friend the member for Fairfax for their support. The USC is changing young people's lives in my community and it is an important part of why the Sunshine Coast should be the place of choice in Australia for education, employment and retirement.