Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

One Nation opposes this motion. We are concerned that everyday Australians who are doing it tough right now may have to bail out the universities that have become dependent on foreign students. These universities exposed us to significant financial risk when they spent vast amounts of our money on overseas students to create more revenue for them. So where was their detailed business case and their risk analysis? If government did a utilisation study on these campuses before approving more building, they would find that their existing buildings are underused. And universities should not be in the accommodation business. James Cook University has just tendered to develop student accommodation, at a time when I found 216 vacant rental properties in Townsville today. James Cook University should give us our money back. We value their research and teaching, but they must act professionally. If the universities were serious then they would lead by example and cut the million-dollar-plus vice-chancellor salaries. Why won't they? Because they lack accountability.