Annette Ellis (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to speak on the Higher Education Legislation Amendment (2006 Budget and Other Measures) Bill 2006. Labor supports this bill, but later in this speech I would like to outline my concerns about the Howard government’s approach to education, which is characterised, sadly, by budget cuts, fee increases and a lack of policy direction, in my opinion. Labor supports schedule 1 of this bill, which contains significant amounts of new money to fund the COAG health workforce and mental health packages, as well as increased funding for capital development at our universities and new science and innovation research training places as promised in the budget. The package includes 605 new commencing medical places, 1,036 new commencing nursing places, extra funding for nurse clinical training, 431 new mental health nursing places and 210 new clinical psychology places. Obviously, Labor welcomes these new places because they may begin to address our chronic health workforce shortage.

But why has the government neglected these workforce shortages for so long? It is a reasonable question. Sadly, the government has failed to invest in education, training, distribution and retention measures to make sure that all Australians have access to the doctors, nurses and other health care professionals they need. People living in my town of Canberra know all too well about these and other skills shortages. I note that the ACT Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been most forthright in its calls for something to be done about them. I commend the work of the ACT Chamber of Commerce and Industry in trying to draw attention to the skills shortages suffered in this community and trying to achieve an outcome. The Reserve Bank recently identified the shortage of skilled workers as ‘one of the most significant constraints in our economy that is putting pressure on inflation and upward pressure on interest rates’.

Schedule 2 of the bill increases the FEE-HELP limit to $80,000 for most students and to $100,000 for medical, dental and veterinary science students. Increasing the debt available to students has become vital under this government because there are now almost 100 full fee degrees in Australia which could cost more than $100,000. Unfortunately, this indicates that the increase in the FEE-HELP limit will not be enough to help meet the real cost of many of those degrees.

Schedule 3 allows universities to charge different students in the same unit different amounts of HECS and tuition fees. Education providers will be able to set different limits for different students in the same unit, using their own discretion, based on any factor that they deem appropriate. There is only a limited scope for the government to determine matters that are not appropriate. I am very interested in seeing more detail on these prohibited factors, but unfortunately this is not yet available. If used in a positive way, the differential fee structures might assist students from a disadvantaged background, through targeted fee relief based on location or mode of delivery. However, Labor does not support deregulation resulting in higher general fee levels. When the new provisions are implemented we will be monitoring this very carefully.

Schedule 6 allows providers to introduce the new concept of winter schools, which would allow students to study units intensively in winter, similar to summer schools. Labor supports this initiative. Unlike the Howard government’s policy, innovative programs such as this are part of an overall and cohesive policy agenda for Labor.

Schedule 8 changes procedures relating to the accreditation and approval of higher education in external territories to give the minister greater power to determine matters in accordance with new ministerial guidelines. I would like to see more information about this measure too, and Labor will pursue it further in the Senate inquiry. We want to make sure that any approval and accreditation is consistent with national protocols that are developed jointly with the states and territories and endorsed by the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs.

Another measure of this bill about which I am very pleased is the application of indexation to university grants across forward estimates. Universities have suffered because of inadequate indexation, but this needs to be rectified to ensure that we sustain and strengthen the quality of university education in Australia.

Having outlined some of the positive measures in this bill, I would like to talk about some of my concerns about the way in which this government has failed, in my opinion and in the opinion of many others, the higher education system. The government has given Australia a skills crisis that threatens our prosperity and the quality of our higher education system. Australia’s economy desperately needs scientists, engineers, doctors, nurses and teachers, among many others. But instead of acknowledging this shameful neglect, the Prime Minister is holding universities back, doubling HECS fees and refusing to fully index university grants.

The government has threatened our economic future by neglecting universities and cutting $5 billion in grants. Australia is now the only OECD nation to actually reduce public investment in tertiary education—that is, TAFEs and universities—as a percentage of GDP since 1995. That is an eight per cent decline in expenditure as a proportion of GDP compared with the OECD average of a 38 per cent increase. I repeat: we are the only OECD nation to actually reduce public investment in tertiary education as a percentage of GDP since 1995—an eight per cent decline in expenditure as a proportion of GDP compared with the OECD average of a 38 per cent increase. That is almost unbelievable, but it is true. It is a shameful situation.

When the Australian economy needs high-quality graduates to compete with the world, the Prime Minister has disgracefully made university funding conditional on the take-up of his extreme industrial relations ideology, when it should be tied to educational standards. I find this disgraceful. We have these amazing discussions going on about ideology and education. If ever there were an ideology in education, it is this: when the Prime Minister and his government make university funding conditional on the take-up of their extreme industrial relations ideology. The take-up of funding should be conditional on educational standards, not on how universities are going to contract workers to match some government ideology. It is just outrageous.

My Labor colleagues and I have a very different approach to higher education. Labor will reform Australia’s universities to build a strong economy and a smart future for this country. A Beazley Labor government will deliver world-class universities, giving Australians the best possible education and training to compete with the rest of the world and to lead the rest of the world. This country is very good at higher education; all we need to do is invest in it. We have punched so far above our weight in the past, and we can continue to do so, but only with the appropriate investment into that educational process.

Labor’s white paper titled Australia’s universities: building our future in the world points the way forward: reform of university funding, world-class and world-scale research hubs, the expansion of associate degrees, and a new Australian higher education quality agency. Labor’s nation building reforms will result in real choice and higher quality education and training for Australians. Importantly, all Australians will benefit because Labor’s much-needed reforms will also deliver the skills our country needs to compete with—and, I believe, to lead—the rest of the world.

I would like to highlight some of the initiatives in Labor’s white paper. I realise other speakers have done this, but we need to repeat this so that people hear our message. Labor will establish a tough new standards watchdog, the Australian Higher Education Quality Agency, and give it real teeth to enhance degree standards and protect quality teaching and research. The watchdog would assess the standards of degrees and the quality of research. Extra funding will be provided through adequate indexation in return for quality improvements. There has been discussion about the quality of our degrees. The reality is that unless we improve the quality we will go backwards in the world.

Labor will introduce options to reduce the HECS burden on students and to improve income support for students while they are studying. Labor will get rid of full fee degrees for Australian undergraduate students at public universities. Associate degrees will be expanded to address the national shortage of technical skills. One of the major initiatives in Labor’s plan is to establish individual compacts within each university. Universities will be able to negotiate funding with the government for four main types of activities: education, research and research education, community service and innovative activities. This will allow universities to diversify their activities, to build on their own strengths and to maximise their ability to compete. Universities will also be able to respond to local needs.

Labor will develop major research hubs to ensure that Australia has world-class, world-scale research capabilities in key areas. I repeat: this country has proven itself in the past to be the most wonderful resource for good research, innovation and science. All we have to do is invest in it. It is in here in our community to be exploited, to be discovered and to be an advantage for all.

Labor is committed to a higher education system which meets the needs of students and employers and which also builds a stronger economy. Therefore, I support the second reading amendment moved by the member for Jagajaga. I understand that the amendment has been outlined already, but it is important that I repeat it for the record. The amendment reads:

… the House condemns the Government for:

(1)

jeopardising Australia’s future prosperity by reducing public investment in tertiary education, as the rest of the world increases their investment;

(2)

failing to invest in education, training, distribution and retention measures to ensure that all of Australia has enough doctors, nurses and other health care professionals to meet current and future health care needs;

(3)

massively increasing the cost of HECS, forcing students to pay up to $30,000 more for their degree;

(4)

creating an American style higher education system, where students pay more and more, with some full fee degrees costing more than $200,000, and nearly 100 full fee degrees costing more than $100,000;

(5)

massively increasing the debt burden on students with total HELP debt now over $13 billion and projected to rise to $18.8 billion in 2009;

(6)

failing to address serious concerns about standards and quality in the higher education system, putting at risk Australia’s high educational reputation and fourth largest export industry; and

(7)

an inadequate and incoherent policy response to the needs of the university system to diversify, innovate and meet Australia’s higher education needs”.

It is indeed a pleasure for me to have the opportunity to speak on this bill. It is an important bill, and we support it.

This bill also gives us the opportunity to talk at length about the reality of the higher education system in this country. Many times as we stand in this place and point out what we believe to be deficiencies and disappointments in government policy, we get accused of scaremongering, accused of telling untruths and accused of all sorts of things. There are statistics attached to higher education in this country that are absolute fact and cannot be denied. If the government are going to have a debate on ideology, I think it is about time they looked at themselves first and realised that, in relation to education, the best ideology they can have is to honestly invest in the education system in this country for our future.

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