Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Training and Education, Senator Birmingham. Will the minister advise the Senate how the Trans-Pacific Partnership provides a strong platform to grow jobs and build global research and education networks.

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Reynolds for her question. Senator Reynolds is from the state for Western Australia, which, pretty much like every other Australian state, is a world leader when it comes to the provision of high-quality education services that are valued not just in Australia but by students from around the world in terms of their access to those education services. The Tans-Pacific Partnership Agreement seeks to follow the government's strong work to date in strengthening our international education markets and providing greater opportunity for schools, universities, vocational education and training providers and English language service providers to all continue to grow the international education market, our third-largest export market and our largest services export product overall. And there were important wins in the Trans-Pacific Partnership for education services with guaranteed access to most TPP markets, where there are significant new opportunities for online learning; for universities and vocational institutions to expand into that online learning space. There will be opportunities to offer a wider range of courses, particularly to Vietnamese students, including in new and emerging technical disciplines and there will be opportunities to seek to establish or expand campuses or institutions by Australian universities or vocational providers with commitments under the TPP for Brunei, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru and Vietnam that lock in openness and access for those providers.

Similarly, there will be greater opportunities in the school education space for international school services operated by Australian providers to have greater access in these TPP countries, all of which are actually delivering opportunities for us to grow a key export market that improves our education services in Australia and that grows more jobs and wealth for all Australians. (Time expired)

Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I rise to ask a supplementary question. Will the minister also inform the Senate of the benefits to the international education sector of the Trans-Pacific Partnership as well as the government's other recently concluded free-trade agreements?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement does of course build upon the agreements we have in place now with China, with Korea and with Japan, as well as prior FTAs—all of which improve market access for Australian businesses across a suite of products, including international education.

Not only is there extra access for universities and vocational institutions specifically, but teachers, academics and other staff directly benefit from these agreements as well. Under the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, universities and vocational education providers will be able to transfer faculty and other staff to offshore campuses for extended periods. Independent Australian education professionals who are seeking contracts to work at overseas institutions will have guaranteed access with streamlined visa arrangements and longer periods of stay, including in countries like Vietnam, Malaysia and Mexico. It is a win not just for the institutions but for the academics and educators working within them as well.

Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Will the minister also update the Senate on any risks to these benefits?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The benefits are widely recognised. They are recognised not just by industry associations and organisations, as Senator Sinodinos indicated before, but also by training organisations, such as Navitas Australia, the largest ASX listed education provider, which said that all of these agreements will drive the 'deeper engagement' that is needed to deliver our target for increased growth in terms of international student numbers. They said:

You can’t attract students if you’re not engaged with the countries they are coming from, and this is one mechanism that will allow the industry to do that.

That engagement is under threat, and it is under threat from those opposite who want to talk down the benefits of these trade agreements at present, who want to run scare campaigns about these trade agreements, and who are running misleading campaigns in terms of the benefits stemming from the TPP, from the China, Japan and Korea FTAs. All of this gives us clear evidence that we can create more jobs and more opportunities in the future. Yet the Labor Party are driven by their union mates, by the Greens and by others into a scare campaign, it seems, rather than backing jobs and opportunity for Australia's educational institutions —(Time expired)