Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to make a few points about how the bill before the House, the Higher Education Support Amendment (Savings and Other Measures) Bill 2013, will affect the people of my electorate of Bendigo. I remind the House that I was not a member in the last parliament, but I was a candidate for the 12 months before I was elected. Funding cuts were a hot issue in the electorate and there were several rallies and protests about funding cuts to the university sector. Being a good, diligent candidate, I made sure that I got out there to listen to the people in my electorate and find out what exactly their concerns were about funding.

At the rally I attended, there was a strong sense of confusion among students. Whilst everyone agreed that there should be funding for schools and they supported Gonski, there was some concern about the funding cuts to universities. As we know, the cost of education continues to increase, and students were concerned that if their university had less funding they would have to pay more. There were about 200 students at the rally I attended. Unlike my opponent from the Liberal Party and my opponent from the National Party I did front up and I talked genuinely to the students about their views on higher education. I was there to face the music before I had been elected. Apart from the fact that they were worried about class sizes—were there going to be larger classes—they were worried about the quality of their resources, and they were worried about whether they could continue to have tutorials. Being the good candidate and then representative that I am, I listened and took on board those comments, because delivering higher education to regional areas is a priority for Labor. Labor has a strong track record in delivering higher education in the regions and, in particular, to Bendigo, whereas those in the government have not.

It is no secret and it is no surprise that in Bendigo the TAFE has been gutted by the Liberal-National state government. We have seen the effects of these cuts just this week and last week, with 47 more redundancies being announced by the TAFE and key vocational trades courses being cut—including in the school of mines. There has been a school of mines on this site in Bendigo since mining started in Bendigo over 150 years ago. Losing the school of mines is a disaster not only for the students but for our region. Cabinetmaking also has been cut. In a growth area, where we continue to build houses, it is astounding that the TAFE has been forced to close down its cabinetmaking apprenticeship course and training. But that is what happens when the Liberals get into government—they cut funding from higher education—and that is what this bill we are debating seeks to do. The 47 redundancies that were announced in the last fortnight are on top of 100 redundancies that were announced last year. The pain for BRIT TAFE, the pain for higher education, will continue.

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