Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to congratulate Deakin University on its recent award success in the fields of automotive engineering and education exporting to international markets. Deakin University is Geelong’s university. It began in Geelong, its administrative headquarters are in Geelong and two of its Victorian campuses are located in Geelong. These campuses currently cater for over 5,000 on-campus students, with courses in the fields of law, engineering, information technology, business, education, nursing, architecture, teaching, science and now medicine, with the Prime Minister having opened the new Deakin medical school in May of this year.

The university also continues to grow, with the new Alfred Deakin Institute, based at the Geelong waterfront campus, scheduled to open next year. The institute will contain an interdisciplinary teaching and research centre covering globalisation, public policy, governance, international relations, political science and communication. I, along with the Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, had the opportunity to visit this facility last Friday. Based on this first visit, my first impression is that the institute will be another valuable resource for Geelong’s education sector.

The academic expertise that Deakin University has long held in globalisation and international relations is matched by its ability to project its capabilities into the international educational system. In 2007-08 Deakin increased its international student recruitment by 9.4 per cent, compared to the national average of 2.7 per cent. This achievement was in part based on a prolonged strategic engagement in India, centred on the establishment of a university office in that country. Indeed, 2008 has been a very good year for Deakin-Indian relations, with the university having increased its Indian student intake by 29 per cent this year, while also pulling off a major coup by attracting one of the world’s largest software companies, Satyam, to establish a research institute on its Waurn Ponds campus that will cater for around 2,000 researchers.

For these achievements, as well as others, Deakin two weeks ago was awarded a Governor of Victoria Export Award by the Victorian Governor, Professor David de Kretser. As a result, the university now automatically progresses as an entrant into the 2008 Australian Export Awards, to be announced in December. I wish them well in that pursuit.

For its part, the Deakin University engineering and information technology department has also been performing on the world stage, having been one of two recipients of a recently announced Ford Global Challenge scholarship, valued at $30,000. The department received the award for its work in designing a Ford Model T for the 21st century, with its final design being described by the motor company as ‘pushing the boundaries and delivering an alternative transportation concept for tomorrow’.

I congratulate all of Deakin University on these recent successes. They are indicative of a university meeting the challenges of the 21st century, and its tireless work and diligence continues to benefit the greater Geelong region.