Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health, Aged Care and Indigenous Health Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to inform the House that King Island has now secured a regional study hub. In my maiden speech to this parliament in 2019, I said that where you live should not be a barrier to the education that you receive. But for our region, which covers the north-west and west coasts of Tasmania, and King Island, access to education past high school has been difficult. It was a priority of mine and was a priority of the former Liberal-National government to close that gap. During my first term, and thanks to the federal government's investment, the redevelopment of the University of Tasmania's Cradle Coast campus in Burnie became a reality. It has given local kids the opportunity to gain a university education without leaving our region. Again, it was the Liberal-National government which began to invest in remote higher education through our Regional Study Hub program.

Firstly, we had the study hub at the West Coast, followed by the University of Tasmania's Burnie campus. Next was the study centre at Circular Head and now we have the last piece in the puzzle: the study hub on King Island. These are four facilities that signal a new era in higher education across the north-west, West Coast and King Island. For local people, accessing tertiary education locally is exactly the way it should be no matter where you live.