Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries) Share this | Hansard source

Our Job-ready Graduates Package is creating up to 30,000 additional university places in 2021, up to 100,000 places by 2030 and bringing down the cost of degrees in key areas. The cost of agriculture and maths degrees is down 59 per cent and the cost of nursing and teaching degrees is down 42 per cent. Our intent was to encourage more students into courses where there was the best chance of getting a job. Pleasingly this is now happening, with applications for courses such as agriculture up 60 per cent and applications for courses in health up 15.5 per cent. Our universities are in a strong financial position, declaring a $2.3 billion surplus in 2019. Universities Australia's own figures show an operating loss of less than five per cent in 2020, with Monash University, for example, recently declaring a surplus of $259 million.