Press Conference - Ellenbrook
JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: This is really exciting. It's about bringing university closer to where people live in the outer suburbs of our big cities and in particular here in Perth. We're setting up a hub here in Ellenbrook, but also in Armadale and in Mandurah. It's about making sure that wherever you live, you get a chance at going to university. And this will help people who are studying at uni now to be able to study closer to home. But also hopefully it'll help a lot of young people who've got a dream to go to university but just think that it's too far away.
Next door I got a chance to meet a young woman who's studying to become a school teacher. She's at Edith Cowan University at the moment and she's got to travel about an hour to get to university. Now she only has to travel five minutes. I met a bloke who's doing a PhD at RMIT in Victoria. He just lives across the road and now he could study right across the road, just a two minute walk to get to university. And I'm hoping that for kids at school today in Ellenbrook, they'll see the sign university and they'll know that, “hey, I can go to uni too.”
JOURNALIST: 100 per cent, that's what it's all about, isn't it? You're obviously in Perth for Cabinet today. Anything on your agenda?
CLARE: This is the first time that the Cabinet's back in Perth since the election and it's a great opportunity not just to meet as a Cabinet and talk about the fantastic things that are happening here in WA, but to meet with Roger Cook and his team and continue the great work that we're doing together. As Education Minister, I'm doing a lot of work with WA. WA was the first state in Australia to sign up to the new education agreement to fully fund our schools. So, I'm looking forward to catching up with the Education Minister tomorrow.
JOURNALIST: First thing on the agenda is cutting HECS. Is that something that really excites you?
CLARE: Big time. There are 3 million Aussies across the country that have a HECS debt and we're going to cut their debt by 20 per cent. It'll be the very first piece of legislation that we introduce into the Parliament next month and I'll have the privilege to introduce that legislation. That's going to make a massive difference for young people right across the country. The average debt today is about $27,000. That means for a lot of people it’s going to cut their debt by $5,000. That'll make it a lot easier for young people starting out who are just getting started, just moving out of home, just wanting to get a mortgage and buy their first home. Cutting that debt will make a world of difference. I want more young people to have a crack at university. That means setting up hubs like this and also means cutting their debt.
JOURNALIST: 100 per cent. Tania, is there anything you'd like to add on the announcement today?
TANIA LAWRENCE, MEMBER FOR HASLUCK: Yes. Ellenbrook is a part of the growth corridor in the outer region of Perth. There will be projected 76,000 people living out in this area by 2036. And we know that the infrastructure that's needed for this community is being realised under the Labor Government both at the state and the federal level. We've now got a train station just within proximity, walking distance of today's opening of the Ellenbrook Study Hub. We have a need to ensure that every student has access to affordable education. We're achieving that with the reduction in the HECS debt. We are achieving that with making access to a study hub environment like this.
A means for students, no matter where they live, no matter their home environment, that they have the opportunity to be able to study in a place that is supportive, that's inclusive and that allows them access to resources to ensure they get the best results at university. I'm definitely proud to be part of a Labor Government that sees education as a silver bullet. That we are investing in education from tiny tots with early education access right through to as the Minister spoke about having every public school now fully funded within Western Australia through to free TAFE and now with university making it more affordable but also more accessible with the Ellenbrook Study Hub opening today.