Dana Wortley (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In this matter of public importance debate the Australian government’s commitment to students in regional Australia is being questioned. The reality is that the Labor government have done more in just over three years for our tertiary students, put more in place for our tertiary students, including those in regional areas, than the coalition did in more than a decade. Not only have we done more but we are also addressing the damage that was left behind by the Howard government.

We know that education is of paramount importance. A strong and appropriately resourced education sector is vital to Australia’s future and one of the cornerstones of our future wellbeing as a nation. We know that, for our young people, education really is the window to the world. We know and understand that this is the reality. That is why in government we have made unprecedented commitments to education, specifically on the issue of the independent youth allowance.

The Bradley review of higher education found that participation in study at university by people from regional areas was falling and that the participation in study by people from low-socioeconomic backgrounds languished at 15 per cent, as against a population share of 25 per cent. That was when those opposite were in government. They were in government for a decade—