Nothing to say, just more of the same: Howard's message on Australia's universities
28 October 2001
The NTEU today expressed its disappointment and anger at the fact that the Prime Minister's speech at the Liberal Party Campaign launch contained no vision for our universities and no solutions to the crisis besetting the sector.
The only new tertiary education initiative contained in the Prime Minister's speech was the announcement of 250 scholarships for people acquiring aged-care nursing qualifications in regional institutions. There was no acknowledgment of the fact that our universities are in crisis, and no response to the many calls for Australia to embark on a program of re-investment in higher education.
`Since 1996, $1billion in public funding has come out of universities' operating budgets, HECS fees for most students have doubled, and student:staff ratios have increased by 20%' said NTEU President Carolyn Allport.
`John Howard's comments send a clear message - a third Coalition Government offers nothing new for our public universities. We can only expect to see further funding pressures, and increased costs to students and their families.'
Dr Allport said that the Government's Backing Australia's Ability package, which is costed at $2.9billion over 5 years, was a valuable initiative, but did not address the core funding problems in universities.
`$1billion is to meet the costs of loans for postgraduate students paying full fees, and the rest is pitched at the top-end of research, not all of it undertaken in universities,' she explained. `Also, most of the funding does not come on line until 2004/5 - after the next election.'
`Meanwhile, according to a recent Saulwick poll, 62% of Australians believe universities don't get enough government money NOW to do their job properly.'
`Australian universities are too important to our economy and our society for politicians to ignore. Whoever forms government must come up with a real solution or, in the words of Rupert Murdoch, doom Australia to global irrelevance.'