Kate Thwaites (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's a privilege to follow the member for Fenner on this. I know how passionate he is about higher education. This is important legislation. While Labor does not oppose the Education Legislation Amendment (Up-front Payments Tuition Protection) Bill 2020 and the Higher Education (Up-front Payments Tuition Protection Levy) Bill 2020, we are once again disappointed by how long it has taken this government to act and we are extremely disappointed by this government's approach to higher education. This legislation must be considered in the broader light of this government's attacks on Australia's higher education system and on our students. The government's job-ready graduates bill, which recently passed the Senate in a dodgy deal done with Centre Alliance and One Nation senators, sells our students and young people short.

It is hard to imagine a worse time for reforms to be introduced which will increase the cost of going to university for our students. Young people finishing high school this year have had such a difficult year. People in year 12 in my electorate are about to start their VCE exams, and I wish them all the best. They have done their study under the most difficult of circumstances. The usual rites of passage—the ceremonies, the celebrations and the privileges that come with being in your final year of high school—have not been available to them in remote learning. They are going through all the stress and pressure of this final year of learning, and their exams and their assessments, in an environment where they will graduate into unemployment, uncertainty and limited options to begin their careers. Their planned gap yet might be off the agenda. Their plan to work for a year and make a bit of money before they go to university might not be open to them.

Despite all this, they have shown remarkable resilience and flexibility. And what does this government offer them in exchange? They have made it harder and more expensive for them to go to university. Some of these students will now pay more than double for the same qualifications. In fact, 40 per cent of students will have their fees increased to $14,500 a year. Students studying the humanities, commerce and communications will pay more for that degree than doctors and dentists. Fees will more than double for people studying humanities, jumping from just over $27,000 to $58,000 for a four-year degree. This government's is disincentivising students from enrolling in courses and subjects that they love and are passionate about, subjects and courses that can stand them in good stead for the future.

I, like many people in this place, have an arts degree—and it has stood me in good stead. I'm standing here and I have had a successful career to date. I believe the skills I got through that arts degree at university have helped me to think and to contribute to our community. And I've done it all without being saddled with massive amounts of debt. Surely all of us are in this place to make our communities better for those who come after us—not to shut the door and say: 'It's harder, it's more expensive. Sorry, we've had our chance but you don't get your chance.' But that is exactly what this government is doing. This government is waging an ideological war on universities and on students—cutting funding, jacking up prices and locking students out.

Of course, we know about the ideological war on universities: it has been all about locking them out of JobKeeper. Despite universities being one of the hardest hit sectors in this crisis, the government made a number of changes to make sure they were not eligible for the JobKeeper subsidy. In my electorate, that has had a big influence. The government changed the rules three times to make sure universities didn't qualify for JobKeeper. So academics, tutors, admin staff, library staff, catering staff, ground staff, cleaners and security staff—all people with families, all people with lives to lead, all trying to make ends meet—are not eligible for government support in their crisis. As I said, I've seen this impact in my community, where La Trobe University is a major employer and a major support for many of our businesses. La Trobe University has had to inform their staff that they're facing a significant financial shortfall this year. They were forced to ask staff for expressions of interest for voluntary redundancies and preretirement contract programs.

According to La Trobe, access to the JobKeeper scheme would have provided them with $50 million to mitigate the impact of this crisis, but this government had no interest in providing that support. They kept moving the goalposts. All of those people suffered, and their families suffered. La Trobe University is a key employer in my electorate, and it's responsible for thousands of direct and indirect jobs. I know it has hurt that this government has not felt that it can extend JobKeeper to universities and, in fact, has instead waged an ideological war on them. It's not good enough. Our students deserve a future. They do not deserve to be saddled with debt as they try and embark on the rest of their lives. Our universities deserve support, not an ideological war.

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