Interview - ABC Country Hour Queensland
BRANDON LONG [JOURNALIST]: First of all, let's talk a little bit about the Regional University Study Hubs. So, ten new ones, and we've got a handful in Queensland. What can you tell us about this new announcement?
ANTHONY CHISHOLM [ASSISTANT MINISTER]: So, this is an extension of the existing hubs that have already been in operation around the country. They do an outstanding job, I've been lucky enough to visit a number of them now, and what they're doing is providing an opportunity for those people who live in a regional or rural location to have the opportunity to study at any higher education institution across the country. We know that it's not always easy to move away from home to study, or indeed you might move to a regional location and want to continue your studies, and that's what these organisations are doing. So they're community-led, and that means that the next nurse or next teacher can already be living in these places, but they're going to get the opportunity to stay and study locally, enjoy that family support that helps you thrive and go on to achieve their degree and aims, which is fantastic.
LONG: Okay and the two new hubs are Clermont and Moranbah, Hughenden, Hay, Tumut, Northam, Kununurra, Kangaroo Island, Hamilton, St Helens and Burnt Pine - some of my interstate colleagues will probably hate the pronunciation there – but what's some of the data showing about the uptake?
CHISHOLM: So, what we know is that there's already thousands of people that are studying at these hubs across the country, and they're doing nursing, they're doing teaching, they're doing social work, they're doing all types of things. We know that in regional and rural economies there is a skills shortage. We need more nurses; we need more teachers. These study hubs are providing that opportunity for those people to study locally. We know that if you study in your local community you're much more likely to stay there longer term and work, so it's really helping to fix that skills gap but also making these regional and rural locations more attractive for people to live at the same time.
LONG: And when do we expect the new hubs to be operational?
CHISHOLM: We'd expect them to be operational this year. I know that a number of them have already started work on where they'd be located, they have been raising money within the community to ensure that they're ready to go, and often they're led by the local council with support of the local community. So, we know that there's already 43 existing and a lot of those who've applied have good relationships with those that are already existing, so we're confident that they can get up and running really soon and provide a service to the local community.
LONG: Yeah and what's the kind of cost that we're talking about with these hubs?
CHISHOLM: Yeah. So traditionally what the Federal Government do is we provide some initial support, because they might need to convert a building to make it suitable. So a lot of the councils that apply use existing council facilities and turn them into a study hub, which is great use of resources, but we also, as part of the Federal Government fund someone to run the centre, and they'll be responsible for the mentoring, they'll go out and talk to Year 11 and 12 students and say, you know, we operate in town so you don't have to move away now to study, you can stay and study in your local community, and then really encourage those 11 and 12s who may be thinking moving away was a bit too far, you don't have to move away, you can stay and study locally, and it might just increase their ambitions in 11 and 12, which would be fantastic. I've seen a lot of these centres in action already across the country. I'm really passionate about the opportunity they provide for people to gain their higher education degree without leaving their community. So, I'm confident that these additional ones are going to provide a fantastic service to those communities, increase the workers, and what we hope is that next nurse or teacher will benefit from these opportunities.
LONG: Let's move to Inland Rail now. So obviously in the news of late there's been discussion about the Infrastructure Priority List and Inland Rail doesn't appear on that anymore. There's been plenty of discussion about why that is. So, should people be concerned that it isn't on the list anymore?
CHISHOLM: No, they shouldn't, Brandon, and it is just a sad scare campaign that we've seen from the State Government and unfortunately it seems the local Member for Groom has hopped on board that. What I would remind people of is the mess we inherited when we came to government three years ago in regards to Inland Rail, where they hadn't even determined the route that we would take in Queensland. So, we've had to go back to the drawing board in Queensland. That process is ongoing. We're trying to work constructively with the State Government identifying the route, getting the approvals in place, but the work on Inland Rail continues, it is being - that work continues further south of the border, and we look to make progress on approvals in Queensland. We understand it's an important project, we're the ones who started it, we want to see it get done, but it has been frustrating that when we inherited this project it was in a complete mess, that's what the Schott Review that we initiated explained, that's what we're trying to fix at the moment.
LONG: And Goondiwindi Mayor, Lawrence Springborg said in January that it looks to be very soon that we'll see some action in Queensland. Are we waiting on some EISs for various parts? What can you tell us about when do we see more action taking place?
CHISHOLM: We understand that it's an important project, and there is a high expectation about what it will mean for the local community. We want to ensure that it gets done in a cost-effective way and one that ensures that there is community support for it as well. That's the process that we're going through at the moment. We need to get all those approvals done appropriately. We'll work to do that with the State Government to ensure that people can have confidence that once we announce what that route will be that there will be community support for it, and the money behind it as well.
LONG: Do we have a timeline yet?
CHISHOLM: I wouldn't want to put a timeline on it, but we're committed to seeing the project through, we want to make progress on it as a government.
LONG: All right, there's just been some recent figures from the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator as they've been doing inspections over two weeks across multiple states on the eastern seaboard, just to check for compliance with things like fatigue. They did 4,500 inspections and found 182 fatigue-related issues that needed action. Do you think that we probably rely on trucks a bit too much, and do you think Inland Rail will relieve some of those issues?
CHISHOLM: I certainly think that it's an important bit of economic infrastructure, but it's also important for the transport and logistics industry as well. Truck drivers do an outstanding job moving freight across the country, particularly in such a big state as ours. We want that to be done as safely as possible, so it is concerning the number of instances that you highlighted there. As someone who is passionate about road safety, we want to ensure that our roads are as safe as possible. We know particularly over this time of year, when people are getting out and about, particularly over the holiday season that there is often high instances. So, we really encourage people to be doing what they can to be driving safely, taking rests where appropriate and ensuring that you do get to your destination in a safe manner.
LONG: And just on to the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing or Toowoomba Bypass, look, it was all finished, it was a very expensive and large project, and it's taken trucks around the town instead of right through it. Lately, there's been a few issues with some rocks, rock formations, you know, cracking and things on the side, a lane has been closed for some time, and some truckies in the region say that we shouldn't be, they shouldn't be paying the full toll at the moment because of some issues there. Do you think that this project, it was a Federal and State Government combined, do you think that what has happened after you've finalised the project has been disappointing, or?
CHISHOLM: Yeah, certainly it's frustrating, and I'm not someone who drives it every day, but I do come up here regularly, and used it this morning and saw the work that is undertaken, and it is frustrating, because it was an expensive bit of infrastructure, as you've identified, and I'm sure the community would be hoping that it would be fully operational and it is important for the freight industry at the same time. I know that the work is going to remediate there, that is being handled by the State Government, so I don't necessarily have an update, but I think it is a lesson for all of us involved in the use of public money, that you want it to be done as efficiently as possible, but you also want these projects to be done in a way to ensure that they do fix those problems longer term. So, I think all politicians should take heed of that advice.
LONG: All right and just finally on to the vets, the peak body for the veterinary practice in Australia, they've said that vets need to do a 52-week practical placement, and they've missed out on some Commonwealth funding. They're calling for a bit of extra help. Do you think that that's possible?
CHISHOLM: Yeah, it is a really important industry, and as I get around the country I do know that there has been identified a shortage of vets, particularly in rural and regional locations. When we brought in the prac placements that would apply to nursing and teaching and social work, this is the first time that the Federal Government have provided some support for students when they are doing that prac placement. It is quite costly, so it is going to cost, it's due to start from 1 July this year, and it is going to cost upwards of $300 million for us to establish that. We'd obviously like that to be expanded, but it is something that does cost money, so we'll work with those people in professions that are impacted and do have claims to make. We want to ensure that this can be done in a way that it continues to be supported and that it does provide that support to people to study so that it doesn't become a barrier, and I do understand that there are other professions out there that do have a claim or a case to be made in regards to this.
LONG: The group also said that it's accrued some of the highest HECS-HELP debts out of any other body studying, I think they put a figure around $80,000 as the medium debt. Is there any option of giving some relief to those people?
CHISHOLM: Obviously we announced that we have taken action on HECS debt, and that it had been too high, so that has taken place. In terms of what we've identified around the cost of courses, that is something that is going to be something that is looked at part of the ongoing Universities Accord process that we went through last year. When we went through the Universities Accord, we said that we wouldn't be able to implement all of those changes from day one, it would take time, and one of the ones that was identified that we are going to look at over time is the cost of degrees. We don't want that to be a barrier to someone studying, but it is something that we need work with the sector on and do it in a way so that we can manage the growth of the sector into the future, but ensure people have an opportunity to study at the same time.
HOST: That was Federal Assistant Minister for Education, Regional Development and Agriculture, Anthony Chisholm there speaking with the ABC’s Brandon Long.