Guy Barnett (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

They have been tireless advocates for their region, as Senator Parry has indicated. I want to touch on the allegation that voluntary student unionism has been a disaster for students. I am very disappointed to hear those allegations, because I think that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The eating has occurred this year, by students across Australia. They have appreciated the opportunity not to be compelled to join a union.

I specifically want to acknowledge the work of Senator Eric Abetz. When he and I were at university in Hobart, back in the early 1980s, this was a raison d’etre, a key reason for being, for us as Liberal students. Together with many other students, we fought hard in support of voluntary student unionism to free up the opportunities for students so that they would not be compelled.

Up until now, Australian students have, as a condition of their enrolments, been paying up to $590 per annum in compulsory union fees. These fees are unrelated to the student’s academic courses and are charged without regard for the student’s ability to pay. How unfair! Part-time students and external students, who may never set foot on a campus, have been required to pay compulsory fees for services they do not use. Under compulsory student unionism, a single mother training to be a nurse would be forced to pay for the canoeing and mountaineering clubs, when all she really wanted was the degree. How unfair is that! We opposed compulsory union membership and we believed that students should not be forced to join a union, pay compulsory union fees or pay for goods and services that they do not want and organisations and causes that they do not support.

I also want to acknowledge Senator Mitch Fifield, who, together with many other colleagues in the coalition, has worked tirelessly to ensure that this policy is implemented across the board. Those people should be acknowledged.

This bill delivers on commitments made by the Prime Minister on 6 April this year as part of COAG’s consideration of Australia’s health workforce and mental health needs. I want to touch on that. In this Senate chamber in the last week, we have had some discussion and debate on mental health needs. That is a very important part of Australia’s future—as is the health workforce.

We have 400 new medical places, commencing in 2007, and, with the full 400 available by 2009, that is worth $60.6 million over four years. I wish to make two particular comments about Tasmania. I give hearty congratulations to the Australian government, the Howard government. We have committed and paid $12 million for a new medical school based in Hobart. That was on a dollar for dollar basis with the state government. There is still some question over the commitment by the state government, and further discussion will be had in that regard, but this has delivered opportunities for Tasmanians.

We have increased the number of medical school places from 61 to 82. That is a significant increase for Tassie. That is 21 extra medical school places. We hope that those students, when they complete their degrees, will be able to in large part stay in Tasmania—live in Tasmania and enjoy the best of Australia based in Tasmania. That will benefit rural and regional parts of the state. That is obviously a very good thing.

The bill also delivers 1,000 new university places in nursing from 2007. That is worth $92.6 million over four years. I know that Michael Ferguson has fought hard for the nursing school in Launceston, as have my colleague Senator John Watson and I. It is a very well regarded campus, the curriculum is well appreciated and the students enjoy living and studying in Launceston.

The bill increases the contribution to the clinical training of nurses from $688 to $1,000 per equivalent full-time nursing units of study. This is worth $30.6 million over four years. There are 420 new mental health nursing places, worth $39.7 million over four years, and 200 new clinical psychology places at the post-graduate masters level, worth $11.3 million over four years. I could go on at some length with respect to the mental health nursing places, the post-graduate clinical psychology places, the additional higher education nursing places and the additional medical school places, but all those details are set down in the government’s report and, indeed, the second reading speech by the minister, Julie Bishop.

Before I make some additional comments, I want to acknowledge the very important announcement by the Prime Minister, John Howard, with respect to the Beaconsfield goldmine. Why would I refer to the Beaconsfield mine tragedy? It is because the government has committed $1 million to the Larry Knight Scholarship. Larry Knight, sadly, passed away on 25 April this year as a result of the Beaconsfield mine tragedy. His wife, Jackie, following discussions with members of the government, has accepted and approved the announcement of the Larry Knight Scholarship, which is for students who wish to study engineering, mining and metallurgy at the University of Tasmania.

Professor Daryl Le Grew has agreed to the Larry Knight Scholarship. Professor Le Grew has provided outstanding leadership for the university since his appointment and has been a tremendous advocate for the university. Certainly I know government senators appreciate his hard work and his efforts to advance the cause in Tassie. It has now been announced and is underway, I understand, for next year. I think that is an excellent announcement by the Prime Minister and I thank him on behalf of the community at Beaconsfield for that very thoughtful commitment. The involvement I had was in making that suggestion of the Larry Knight Scholarship to the Prime Minister. That has been taken up and implemented. I think it is an excellent measure.

With respect to education more generally, Minister Julie Bishop has provided outstanding leadership, particularly in recent times. I want to congratulate Julie Bishop for what she has done in terms of wanting to have a debate about the curriculum in Australia today. Yes, the states and territories think they have it all their own way, but she has commissioned an independent study by the Australian Council for Educational Research to examine curriculum content and standards in English, Australian history, mathematics, physics and chemistry.

The report, expected by the end of 2006, will be fascinating. I believe it will show that, with respect to the development of the curriculum and the various committees and boards set up by the various state governments around this country—I will not say that they are totally controlled by them—the Australian Education Union have a role to play in each case. I simply ask the question: why would the Australian Education Union have such a dominant role with respect to making recommendations and advising and implementing school curriculums? They are a very powerful union, and you can see that they are powerful. Unions across the board have committed $47 million to the Labor Party over the last 10-odd years, and that money is still coming in thick and fast. So I can see that he who pays the piper calls the tune. I hope that this report exposes some of the decisions that have been made in educational policy and has a good look at the various committees and boards that make up curriculum decision-making bodies.

I also acknowledge the recent article by Michael Ferguson, the federal member for Bass, on the importance of more transparent and accountable curricula and the preparation of them. He wrote an article in the party room booklet, which has been distributed to members of the government.

Finally I want to commend and thank the Prime Minister and the Hon. Julie Bishop for establishing the Australian history summit. It has been vital that we consider the study of Australian history. It should be planned through not only primary school but also through secondary school, and it should be a distinct subject in years 9 and 10. I have believed this for a long time, having argued that we should have Australian history as a compulsory subject in secondary school during various public forums and at state councils of the Liberal Party since I was a young student at university. I thank the government, particularly Julie Bishop and the Prime Minister, for their leadership in that regard, and I hope that it comes to an excellent conclusion.