Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Acting Prime Minister. In a Senate submission about the government's higher education changes, the Western Australian National Party has said:

… the social costs on regional students in WA have been poorly considered … regional students in WA will be disproportionately impacted by these reforms.

How can the Leader of the National Party support the Americanisation of our universities, which will see regional students saddled with a debt sentence?

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The opposition has continually sought to make comparisons with the system of education in the United States. As the minister has pointed out, there are of course many differences. But one of the things I observed about university education in the US, when I was in the area quite some time ago, was the extent of the regional university network in the United States. Most small communities have a university presence. There are many good things in the US system I would like to see in Australia.

There are many elements of our proposed reforms which offer new opportunities to students living in country communities. Particularly in a state like Western Australia, there will be a new opportunity, through the new scholarships program, for country students who face the extra cost of moving to a large city. The scholarship program will give the most talented country students the opportunity to get an education at the university of their choice. That is an opportunity that was never provided by Labor. Indeed, Labor refused to address the issue of the higher costs for students who have to travel to the cities for their education. This program provides new opportunities for those who need to travel to a capital city to obtain their education and I am sure that will be particularly appreciated in Western Australia.

The reality is that Universities Australia, in a press release issued on Wednesday, 24 September, have been demanding that the Senate pass these higher education reforms. The universities of Australia, working together, know that the current system is broken, that it does not provide opportunities for Australian students—including, in particular, students from regional communities. These reforms can make a real difference and give students in Western Australia, and indeed other states, the chance to obtain degrees they otherwise could not afford.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to table a position of the Nationals of Western Australia which is different to position of the Leader of the Nationals.

Leave not granted.