Press conference - Edith Cowan University Campus

PATRICK GORMAN, MEMBER FOR PERTH: It's absolutely terrific to have the Federal Minister for Education, Jason Clare, here in Perth at the ECU City campus. 

This campus is not just the pride and joy of Western Australians, it is a nationally significant campus. We have some 10,000 people coming here to study, learn, research and teach every single business day. And you can really feel how this campus is bringing Perth to life and handing down great opportunities to the next generation of Australians. Some 65,000 square metres of space here built proudly by Western Australians. 

It's been my absolute honour to be with the Minister getting to see it. We were here in hard hats last time, now we're here just in normal attire. And I want to say a huge thank you to the Vice Chancellor, Clare Pollock, and her team for the outstanding tour that we've had. But more importantly, for the education and the opportunities they're handing down to the next generation of Australians. I'll hand over to the Minister to say a few words.

JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: Thank you. Thanks very much, Pat. And can I also thank you, Clare, and your whole team for showing us around today. 

I'm going to get into a bit of trouble for this, but this is about as good as it gets. As Minister for Education, I get to visit universities right across the country and, in particular, see some of the new buildings and new campuses that are being built, particularly vertical campuses in our suburbs and in our CBDs. And what I saw today really blows my mind. This is learning for the 21st century. And it shows that Perth has got a campus here in the heart of the city that is as good as you find anywhere in the world. 

So, Clare, thumbs up to you and the team. Thanks very much for letting me come and have a little bo-peep again today. 

Education changes lives. And education also changes countries. I know that because it's changed my life. I know that because it's changed the lives of the people that I grew up with. If we go back 50 years or so, we'd find a country where less than 50 per cent of young people finished school, and very few people went on and got a university degree. And Australia is a different country today. Now, about 80 per cent of young people finish high school, and about 50 per cent of people in their 30s have a university degree. But not everywhere. Not in every suburb, not in every corner of the country. And I want to fix that. That's what the Universities Accord is all about. It's about building a higher education system where more people can get more skills. And we're a country where we need more people to finish high school and then go on to TAFE or to university and to get those skills. And that's why we're building university study hubs in the regions and in the outer suburbs. 

It's also why we're funding more free bridging courses, so people who may not be ready to start a university degree can get those skills, so when they get here, they succeed. And it's also why in the next few weeks I'm going to introduce legislation that will make sure that if you're a young person from a poor family or you're a young person from the regions or the bush and you get the marks, if you've got what it takes, then you'll get a Commonwealth Supported Place, you'll get a guaranteed place at university. If you've got what it takes, you'll get a place. 

And what that is all about is making sure that more young people, wherever they grow up, get a crack at education and get the skills that Australia needs. It's about opening the doors of opportunity wider for more Australians. Happy to take some questions.

JOURNALIST: What's your response to your post-Budget poll about this morning? Are you worried about the response?

CLARE: I think I saw two different polls that said two different things. You know, to be honest, I'm not focused on either of those polls. I'm focused on the big things that we need to do to make Australia a better and fairer place. Education is a big part of that. The reforms that I'm implementing are all about that, and the Budget is about that as well.

Last year we cut student debt by 20 per cent for 3 million Australians. And most young people, when there's an election, don't see something for them on the ballot paper they did last year. I think what we saw in the Budget was a government that is focused on taking the next step to help the next generation of young Australians, to make sure that a system that exists at the moment that doesn't give young Australians a fair crack, that doesn't help them in the way that it should to own the roof over their own home is fixed, is changed and gives more young Australians the chance that we had when we were younger.

JOURNALIST: Given all that [inaudible] as a Budget geared towards the younger generations, is it then a concern, though, that more young voters believe they'll be worse off than better off? I mean, that suggests that communications failed so far.

CLARE: Again, I saw two different polls that said two different things about that.

JOURNALIST: They both say most people don't like the Budget.

CLARE: I don't think that's right. Go back and have a look. I saw two polls say two different things.

JOURNALIST: Well, one found that 60 per cent don't believe they'll be better off as a result of the Budget. Another found Angus Taylor is now Australia's preferred Prime Minister. They're both pretty worrying results.

CLARE: No, I think that's selective interpretation.

JOURNALIST: So how do you interpret it?

CLARE: What I interpreted is that Australia wants a government that is prepared to take the tough decisions to build a better and a fairer country. And that's what these reforms are all about. The Labor Party now is the only party of the centre, the only party that's in the sensible centre. You've got the Liberal Party now trying to be a try hard One Nation Pauline Hanson without the personality. And I don't think most Australians want that.

JOURNALIST: What's going on with international student approval numbers? They're falling. The universities are fearing a massive financial hit as a result, and the numbers seem to show massive drops in particularly South Asian students being approved to come in.

CLARE: The top priority for all Australian universities needs to be Australian students. Making sure that we educate the next generation of Australian students. We set numbers for every university, what's called the National Planning Level across the nation for international students. What we're doing is making sure that the system has integrity, making sure that students who come here to study are selected based on their merits. And so there is a selection process or an analysis process that's led by the Department of Home Affairs to make sure that that occurs.

JOURNALIST: So, was it out of whack?

CLARE: What the Department of Home Affairs is focused on is making sure that when students come here to study that they've got the wherewithal, that they've got the income, they've got the ability to study here. And also to make sure that when students come here, they're here to study rather than here to work.

JOURNALIST: Are places like this funded for Australian students and otherwise by international students largely?

CLARE: I wouldn't say largely. It's largely funded through the contributions of the Australian Government as well as through the students themselves, through the HECS system. 

But international students are important. They play an important role both in the funding of universities but also in the way in which the world sees Australia. Because when you come to Australia and you study here, you fall in love with Australia, and you take that back home with you when you go. It's important, but also, it's important that the system has integrity, and that's what the reforms that Home Affairs are implementing are all about.

JOURNALIST: I just wanted to ask, do you think that the Treasurer and the Prime Minister did a good enough job of selling the Budget, given the numbers we've seen in the polls?

CLARE: The selling of the Budget goes on. It's not just about last week, it's not just about this week. It's about the implementation of the reforms by passing legislation through the Parliament and the difference that it will make for young Australians right across the country.

JOURNALIST: There were almost 300,000 student visas issued last year, I think. Was that too high?

CLARE: The National Planning Level is at around about 295,000. It's a little bit higher than it was the year before. We set those numbers based on what we think is the right settings for universities across the country.

JOURNALIST: So, it wasn't too high?

CLARE: We think the number's right, but we've got to make sure that the individual students meet the requirements that we set as a nation.

JOURNALIST: Why did you have to pull funding for 13 research projects for national security reasons?

CLARE: I made that decision based on advice from the Australian Research Council as well as other Australian Government agencies. I won't go into the detail beyond that, other than to say that we're also implementing further reforms to protect research security at our universities. That includes the release of a framework to guide the work that the ARC does, but also reforms to the Threshold Standards, the higher education standards that universities are required to meet. That work is underway right now and will become more in July this year.

JOURNALIST: As a politician from Western Sydney, what are your thoughts on the GST? Chris Minns has said that New South Wales has had a raw deal. Do you agree?

CLARE: No, I disagree with Chris and I think the Prime Minister and the Treasurer have made their views on the GST in WA very very clear.

JOURNALIST: Do those views change? Do you think their views on negative gearing have changed?

CLARE: I think I answered that question.

JOURNALIST: Just your reaction to Tanya Plibersek's interview, didn't go so well. They're calling it a death tax. Are people right to be concerned that all their hard work during their lives is at risk and the government's just got its hand out for 30 per cent?

CLARE: No, look, I didn't see that interview, but I think all of the speculation about that is wrong. And I refer you to what the Treasurer has said about that in recent days.

JOURNALIST: Can I just ask, the approach planned with regard to the National Gas Reservation Policy, is the intent to carve WA out, and is there concern that would be unconstitutional?

GORMAN: The intent of the Gas Reservation Policy that we've announced is to make sure that we have enough domestic gas for domestic industry, and indeed, as both the Prime Minister and the Minister for Resources, Madeleine King, my good WA colleague, have said, this is modelled on the success story of Western Australia. 

We recognise that West Australian businesses have been fortunate to have access to that gas reserved for domestic purposes. We are doing this in a really collaborative way. I've seen comments from both the Minister for Resources and the Premier of Western Australia, Roger Cook, talking about how there will be deep consultation because it's primarily focused on fixing a problem that has gone on for too long on the east coast, where there's not enough gas for domestic users. 

And of course, we want to make sure that we can protect what's working well in Western Australia as well. That's what I expect to happen, and it will happen in a collaborative way.

JOURNALIST: Is it going to create a problem for [inaudible]? Will WA have to cede control of its gas to the East Coast?

GORMAN: I'm not anticipating any problems for Western Australia. I think we'll get some really good advice from Western Australians about what's worked in that design scheme. And let's also give credit to Alan Carpenter, who, some 20 years ago, had the vision to make sure that Western Australia had the energy it needed to become that vision that he and that previous Labor Governments could see, which was that if we got our energy sources right, there could be so much more opportunity for people here in Western Australia. That's what we want to do with what we are now looking to do federally, and we'll do so in a consultative and collaborative way.

JOURNALIST: But it's already right here, can you guarantee that it won’t adversely impact WA’s [inaudible].

GORMAN: I think what I've just said is that we want to make sure that this works for where we see a policy problem that does need addressing, just as Alan Carpenter could see a policy problem that needed addressing some 20 years ago.

JOURNALIST: And just on ECU and the Perth City Seal is about to finish. Obviously, it has done a lot here in your electorate. Is there a replacement under negotiation? Does there need to be a new framework to inject activity into the Perth city centre?

GORMAN: Well, I'd agree that seeing the collaboration we've had between the Commonwealth, the state, the local council and in cases like this, the university sector has been fantastic. And we've seen excellent investment, this campus, the Common Ground facility, in terms of the work that I've championed for many years at the WACA ground, that's now open, and it's great that people are seeing the success of all of that. 

We've announced in this Budget additional major investments in Western Australia. One of the criticisms that we did see about the Perth City Deal is it was incredibly focused in one area, and I've had a lot of councils come to me over the years saying, I love that City Deal, but why isn't there anything happening in our part of the world. 

So, what we've looked to do is, and the announcement that Clare O'Neil was here making just a few weeks ago about housing, making sure we're putting out more money for infrastructure -- the City Deal was ultimately about infrastructure funding -- now putting that into housing. We've got more money going into a range of social and affordable housing projects. We've also got the significant announcement the Prime Minister made when it came to Anketell Road and expanding our road infrastructure to get what is an essential piece of economic infrastructure, which is Westport. So, we'll continue, and what the Prime Minister has always said, and Catherine King and myself and others, is that we want to have that rolling investment program of infrastructure.

JOURNALIST: That's all a long way away from the Perth CBD [inaudible] Anketell Road, there’s not going to be another Perth City Deal?

GORMAN: What we've said is that we'll continue to invest in infrastructure. In every single budget, in every single budget, there's been more investments in infrastructure for Western Australia and --

JOURNALIST: Nothing for Perth CBD [inaudible]

GORMAN: I think if you look, there is actually significant --

JOURNALIST: Name one thing.

GORMAN: We've given some additional investments for the state government to complete their Metronet work. That was one of their requests, and we've delivered it.