Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

Minister, I think you've forgotten to inform the Senate that the Australian Technology Network initially took the view that, if the government were going to provide any funding for student entrepreneurs, that money should go to the students by way of capital to support the students in their various enterprises. Yes, there was a bit of a backflip in the Senate inquiry; I do agree with that. But I also am concerned that the university sector are seeking to appease the government. Perhaps they see a bucket of money coming their way as part of the Universities Accord process. I think they'll be sadly disappointed. But I think the initial consultation that we saw indicated the enormous breadth of concern from the university sector.

I just want to take you to the student survey, because I'm not quite sure that you're across the details of the survey, Minister. Unfortunately, we weren't able to access all of the data, because the government refused to provide that. But, in the data that the government has provided, 55 per cent of students surveyed—and we're looking at 530 students, which is only a very small handful, in three focus groups—have an interest in joining a startup; 83 per cent would join a university accelerator; and the majority, 58 per cent, would consider taking out a HELP loan, but the majority, 62 per cent, would expect to pay $6,000 or less. So whoops! Here's your own survey, Minister, that says that the majority of students would not expect to pay anything like more than $10,000 or more than $11,000. In fact, New South Wales TAFE is offering a very good course in entrepreneurship for about $6,000. So the majority of students have told you very clearly that they don't expect to pay such an exorbitant fee. So I would put to you, Minister, that the evidence to support students taking on such an exorbitant debt by doing a Startup Year course is not fair, and on behalf of all Australian students, frankly, I express my profound disappointment that the government has not been more mindful of the enormous burden that this could place on students.

Minister, are you able to inform the Senate as to which universities are planning which courses? Can you provide any detail about the sorts of courses that are going to be offered to students? What amazing courses will be on offer that students are going to pay $11,800 for? Could you describe the types of courses that you believe will, within 10 weeks, be rolled out?