Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for the Republic) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

() (): Australian universities saw over 17,300 jobs lost last year. Yet the Morrison government stood by, choosing to exclude universities from JobKeeper. Now there are more losses expected to come. Our unis have been hit hard by the fallout from COVID and the decline in international students. University education is one of the nation's biggest industries; it's also one of the biggest employers, including in Kingsford Smith, which is proud home to the University of New South Wales. The Prime Minister changed the rules three times to make sure that workers in this sector did not get JobKeeper. UNSW was forced to cut 256 jobs last year—academics, tutors, admin staff, library staff, catering staff, ground staff, cleaners, and many others trying to make ends meet—which has impacted families in our community. It's our universities that we've turned to during this pandemic to develop vaccines, look at treatments and investigate ways the disease spreads in our community. Yet the Morrison government has not supported them. Not only do hundreds of thousands of Australians rely on universities for their jobs; universities are home to the brilliant researchers that we're depending on to develop new treatments and equipment to combat COVID. It doesn't make sense. With over 17,000 jobs lost across our country's universities last year, it's our nation's productivity that will suffer in the future. It's a shameful record of this Morrison government that they choose not to support Aussie workers when they need it. (Time expired)