Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Senator, the simple answer is that the TPS is a universal model. We decided to go down that path. That was what was recommended. We thought it was the best way to approach the issue. There were a lot of discussions in the sector about that, rather than trying to split off different sections and having different systems apply to them. There was some initial resistance to that, but I think most people came on board and understood that.

It is based on risk assessment—that is true—but I make the general point that I disagree with Senator Back in one regard. I think it is true to say that the universities are enacted by state legislation and they are much more secure than some of the other providers in the sector. That is the case, but I would not want to pretend that we have not had concerns about the university sector in Australia, that there were not a number of universities whose practices were of concern. I have certainly raised it directly with them, and a number of them are addressing those things. They are addressing them in terms of the Knight review response as well. It is equally true that not all the TAFEs have been, in my view, perfect citizens in this regard. So I just want to dispel the myth that somehow all of the concerns across the sector and how we deal with international students were centred on private colleges. I think I had a reputation for going pretty hard at some of the cooking college and hairdresser sector of the market as immigration minister. It needed to be cleaned up, and it has been. We have to be wary, but it is equally true that we need universities and TAFEs to provide first-class education services and proper supportive services for students. I am not one who believes 'university good, private college bad' or 'TAFE good, private college bad'. I think it is a much more complex set of circumstances than that. I think it is important that we have a universal system. But it is, as you say, important that, as we have done in response to the Knight review, we try to risk-rate what we are dealing with.