Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Higher Education Legislation Amendment (Student Services and Amenities, and Other Measures) Bill 2009, as will many of my colleagues within the parliament, who are totally committed to this legislation and can see the vast benefits that it will provide. I need to put on the record my very strong support for this legislation, as will many of my colleagues.

This legislation amends the previous government’s voluntary student unionism legislation, delivers a balanced, measured and practical solution to rebuilding student services and amenities of a non-academic nature and restores independent democratic representation and advocacy within the higher education system. It will amend the previous government’s voluntary student unionism legislation and deliver balanced and measured practical solutions. It is important to note that the previous government’s legislation stripped approximately $170 million from university funding, resulting in the decline and in some instances complete closure of vital health, counselling, employment, childcare and welfare support services—things that are vitally important to students when they are at university. Going from school to university is a very big life change, and the services that were provided were quite often the services that ensured that students going to university succeeded.

I must say that I found listening to the contribution to the debate by the member for Hume most interesting. As I entered the chamber he was throwing abuse across the chamber at one of my colleagues, suggesting that unlike the member for Leichhardt he had worked for a living. Well, I have known the member for Leichhardt a long time and I know that he has worked for a living. He has a background in agricultural science, and he is very committed to seeing students get a fair deal. The member for Leichhardt understands what it is like to attend university while at the same time struggling with work. He has been faced with all of those competing needs.

It is very wrong for the member for Hume to stereotype members and to be so judgmental about a person’s background without knowing anything at all about where they come from or what they have done in the past. I feel quite sure that the member for Hume would like to throw those sorts of comments across the chamber at me. I have had a long and varied career, starting with washing dishes in kitchens and serving tables when I was studying to working in a professional field prior to entering parliament. I have always worked, and that is pretty indicative of most people on this side of the parliament. We have worked hard, we have studied, but we do not come from the elitist background that members on the other side of parliament try to portray. We do understand that many on their side enjoyed growing up with a silver spoon in their mouths—

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