Barbara Pocock (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to this urgency motion and to the dire state of our university sector. I know, after 25 years working in the sector, that public higher education fulfils a vital role in society and the benefits are broad-reaching, and I've witnessed the extraordinary strain in the sector.

Universities educate workers of the future, equipping them with the skills, knowledge and critical thinking that we need for democratic participation and inclusion in a constantly changing labour market.

This week is Social Sciences Week. Not a week goes by without this place being dependent on the work of social scientists: their research and their training of people who inform all of our work in this place. High-quality, accessible education serves the public good and should be adequately funded by governments. Students should have fee-free access to a safe and effective learning environment, and staff need secure jobs and pay.

Inadequate public funding and the gradual corporatisation of Australian universities has eroded the quality of research, teaching and employment. The future of public university hangs in the balance, and this cap on international students will only make things worse—much worse. Rather than address the structural issue of chronic university underfunding, this government would rather scapegoat international students and blame them for the housing and cost-of-living crises.

Australian universities have been chronically underfunded for decades. The structural crises in university funding and workforce reflect decades of punitive restructuring and underfunding, and they pushed deregulation and privatisation that's been underway in our sector since the mid-1980s. Federal funding for universities between 1995 and 2021 declined by $6.5 billion. That equates to almost half of current higher education funding. In addition, Australian universities are experiencing an epidemic of insecure and casualised employment. It's been going on for years.

If this bill is passed, it will put a further 14,000 university jobs at risk, according to the sector. I know what this means for research and the quality of teaching in our Australian higher education system. Make no mistake: this is an appalling migration policy masquerading as an education policy. This bill is a political smokescreen that the government hopes will give it an upper hand in its political battle with Peter Dutton on migration ahead of the next election. This is wrong on so many counts.

International students accounted for more than half of Australia's GDP growth last year, almost single-handedly saving the nation from recession. International students are more than numbers or commodities; they bring culture and vibrancy to our cities, towns and campuses. International students pay astronomical fees, yet too often face bias, discrimination and racism. In my home state of South Australia, international education is the largest export sector. In 2023 it was worth over $3 billion to our state economy, and our community in South Australia would be so much worse off on so many counts without our international graduates.

In the hearings about the international student caps, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Adelaide, Professor Jennie Shaw, said, 'The imposition of caps endangers the future prosperity of South Australia.' The president of the Flinders University Student Association also said that the government's measures over the past 12 months have left international students feeling completely dehumanised. There was universal opposition to this chaotic and reckless bill at the inquiry hearings.

The higher education sector will be collateral damage in this race to the bottom and race to the Right on migration between Labor and the Liberals. The government must scrap the caps and immediately get rid of ministerial direction 107. They must go back to the drawing board. They must genuinely consult with the higher education sector and restore public funding to these critical institutions which are so important to the economic, social and cultural health and richness of our country.