Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to talk about the drastic impacts that the federal government's reforms to higher education will have on Charles Darwin University in my electorate and the job losses that will come from it. CDU punches well above its weight, ranked internationally in the top two per cent of universities and ranked 10th out of 21 Australian universities, which is a great effort for a small regional university. It was a privilege to visit CDU last week when it was Innovation Week. The university showcased the exciting research taking place on campus. The CDU innovation evening gave Territory business and industry leaders the opportunity to talk about expertise at CDU in science, big data, social sciences, vocational education and training, engineering, health, evaluation and environment. CDU's declared intent is to explore these new ideas, create value for social and commercial entrepreneurialism and develop the marketplace in northern Australia. A good example of this is world-leading technology with LightSPEE3D's metal printer. However, all of these great innovations are at risk if the coalition government continues to pursue the cuts—$63 million across four years—which will lead to job losses, which will be no good for CDU or the Territory.