Andrew McLachlan (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Hansard source

Franz Kafka's critique of bureaucracy reveals its absurdity and inefficiency and how it often leads to a sense of helplessness amongst individuals that are ensnared in administrative processes that seem arbitrary and devoid of justice.

I have a tale for the chamber. It involves the Imperial Engineering Education company. It's a South Australian company and it offers two bachelors of engineering: one majoring in renewable energy and one majoring in advanced manufacturing. You would have thought we need engineers in these two areas to drive the transition of our economy to net zero. The school has invested $3.5 million to meet its regulatory requirements and employ staff, and it found premises and entered into an agreement with a local TAFE. It was authorised to teach 275 students, but, early this year, it was subsequently advised it could educate only 10 students. Educating only 10 students makes the college unviable and makes the investment in this education institution almost redundant.

I don't want this contribution to enter into the debate about student caps. Rather, it's to inform senators as to the human cost of the administrative decisions that have followed the pivot in government policy. In the Kafkaesque tradition, the formula applied does not take into account that the school is a startup. No consideration or weight has been given to the investment in the college or the employees' futures. The state has simply said the magical number is 10.

The classrooms lay empty. To the credit of the school, the staff have been retained, and options are being urgently looked at. I commend management for their commitment to their staff, particularly to their educators. The decision is unfair and arbitrary in nature. The decision is unjust. I ask the government to right this injustice.