Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

One Nation does not support this. It's about time that universities became more accountable for how they spend our hard-earned taxes. They teach students business and risk management skills but apparently could not teach themselves. They made risky business investments when they should've focused on building Australian capability. Fat-cat university executives, who earn around $1.2 million each year plus bonuses, spent our money on underutilised facilities and student accommodation that should've been left to the open market to own and operate. Last year the Centre for Independent Studies warned the University of Queensland that they risked a taxpayer funded bailout because of their overreliance on Chinese overseas students, yet the University of Queensland did nothing. Universities are not treating us or our money with respect. Everyone is suffering during the economic downturn, and universities are not a protected species. They created their own problems. They need to apply some basic business principles and to sort out a sustainable business model—revenue, expenses, risk and quality.