Media Release: NTEU welcomes commitment to students and quality education
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has welcomed the Federal Government’s decision to maintain the key functions of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) and the longer term continuation of the National Rental Affordability Scheme. This is as a result of the agreement reached between the Government and the Australian Greens to support the flood levy.
“NTEU congratulates the Australian Greens for prioritising the quality of the learning and teaching at Australian universities in its negotiations with the Government,” said Jeannie Rea, NTEU National President.
To fund its $5.6billion flood rebuilding program the Government announced $1billion in delays to infrastructure projects and $2.8billion in spending cuts, as well the introduction of its $1.8billion flood levy. The spending cuts included cessation of two specific higher education programs, the Capital Development Pool ($299m) and the ALTC ($88m). In addition, many higher education students who had to move away from home to study would be directly affected by reductions in the National Rental Affordability Scheme.
“While NTEU is pleased by the announcements about the ALTC and the National Rental Affordability Scheme, we remain disappointed that the Government seems committed to making up for these announcements by finding savings elsewhere.”
“The Union’s position is that we support the introduction of the flood levy, especially since those who earn more are expected to pay more, and the reprioritisation of some infrastructure projects, but believes that instead of financing the rest of the flood rebuilding program through spending cuts, it would have been appropriate to meet these one-off unexpected costs from consolidated revenue and accepting that this might keep the Budget in deficit for another year.”
“In particular, we remain seriously concerned that the cessation of the Capital Development Pool will make it extremely difficult for universities to meet the Government’s targets for higher education participation over the next decade,” Ms Rea concluded.
For further information and comment:
Jeannie Rea, NTEU National President, 0434 609 531
Matthew McGowan, NTEU National Assistant Secretary, 0417 054 110
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Branch Contacts
Branch Office
Room 214 Transient Bdg Camperdown/DarlingtonCampus
University of Sydney
Phone: 02 9351 2827
Fax: 02 9351 7573
nteu@nteu.usyd.edu.au
http://www.nteu.org.au/sydney
Michael Thomson
Branch President
mthomson@mail.usyd.edu.au
Katherine Barnsley
Branch Organiser
kbarnsley@nteu.org.au
Shane Reside
Branch Organiser
sreside@nteu.org.au
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