Press conference - Fairfield

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, it's great to be always in the Fairfield Western Sydney University Study Hub, which has existed since very early last year. And I'm very proud of it. I'm very pleased. Western Sydney Uni, I always thought was missing a vital piece when they weren't in Fairfield and we fixed that. And that's to the great credit of Western Sydney Uni to the former Vice Chancellor, Barney Glover and the current Vice Chancellor, George Williams. And today we're making the Fairfield Western Sydney Uni presence bigger and better with a very important investment, which the Minister will announce in a moment. You can't be what you can't see. And for too many people it's been difficult to see a pathway to university from our area. We're fixing that in small steps and today is a small step, but a very, very good and important one, making this centre even more important for our community. And I want to see it grow and grow over the years. I know it will and today it's growing and the services will get better and be available to more people. And this was always going to be a step-by-step process and today is another important step. I'm very proud of it, very proud that Western Sydney Uni is here in my hometown and I'm very proud that we are making it an even better project with the investment from the Albanese Government today. Over to my mate, Jason Clare.

JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: Well, thanks very much, Chris. There's one reason above all others that this hub is here. And Chris is too modest to mention it, but the truth is, it's Chris. We're both Western suburbs kids, born and bred. Chris grew up here in Fairfield and Smithfield. I grew up two stations down the road in Cabramatta. And as kids we grew up knowing that a lot of our mates at school, either didn't finish school or when they finished school, didn't go on to university, because university felt like it was too far away - that it was somewhere else for someone else. I know in my own circumstances, it involved catching the train to the city and then a bus out to the University of New South Wales - an hour and a half there, an hour and a half back. For a lot of people, they just thought that that meant that uni was for people who lived closer to that university.

You can see the impact of that in the numbers. Today, around about, or almost 50 per cent of young people in their 20s and 30s have a university degree. But not everywhere, and not here, not where we grew up here. It's still around about 25 per cent. And we want to change that. I want to change that. I know you want to change that. I know you do too, George. That's what Western Sydney University is about. That's what it's always been about and that's what this Hub is about. And that's why it's so appropriate that it's on Smart Street in Fairfield to send a message to every kid who grows up here in the Western suburbs of Sydney that this is for you.

In the years ahead, more and more jobs are going to require more and more skills, and it's going to mean more and more young people finishing high school and then going on to TAFE or to university. The University's Accord tells us that. It says that at the moment, about 60 per cent of people in the workforce have a certificate or a diploma or a degree, but by 2050, and that's not that far away, that that will need to be 80 per cent. Now, if we're going to hit that mark, it means more young people from our local community breaking down that invisible barrier that stopped a lot of our mates getting to university. And that's why Hubs like this are so important - breaking down that invisible barrier.

When we were kids growing up here, there were lots of Macca's logos, lots of KFC logos, lots of Westfield's logos. There weren't a lot of university logos telling young people in our area that university was for them. That's what this is about. The good news today, not just here, but right across the country, is that the number of young people starting a university degree is going up and up and up. It jumped by four per cent last year, it's jumping by about another four per cent this year, and because of the work that the Australian Tertiary Education Commission is doing, it's expected to jump again next year by about an extra 9,000 students.

The way it looks from the data that we're getting, the number of young people starting a university degree in Australia next year will be at record levels, and that's a good thing. But if we're serious about making sure that more young people get a crack at going to university, not just in Mosman or in Bondi, but in Fairfield and in Liverpool and in Blacktown and Mount Druitt and Bankstown, then we need places like this, bringing uni closer to where people live. And that's what this is all about. The Mount Druitt Hub is now open. The Emmerton Hub is now open. The Macquarie Fields Hub is now open. The Liverpool Hub will open in a couple of weeks’ time.

This Fairfield Hub has been open now for more than a year. But what it does now, the services it provides for young people here in Fairfield is much more than ever before because of the $3.2 million dollars that we're investing in this hub to provide more kit and more people to help young people in our local community to get the skills that they need, that we need as a country. The fact that there were 100 young people here last night preparing for their physics exam, the last exam for the NSW HSC today, fills me with confidence. This place is doing something really, really special. It's not just helping young people studying at uni that might otherwise have to go a long way to study to do it closer, but it's also telling young people here who are still at school in Fairfield that uni is for them. And that's fantastic.

Thanks very much. Happy to take some questions.

JOURNALIST: Minister, you've announced extra domestic places today, but what about international students? The government softened its cap next year. Does that mean there's no need for caps on international students?

CLARE: The top priority of Australian universities is about educating Australian students. I make no bones about that. That's why the allocation of additional places, additional funding for universities to educate more Australians next year is so important. But we also recognise that international education is important as well - makes us money as a country, it makes us friends as a country as well. The allocation of additional international student numbers to universities next year is important. It helps universities like Western Sydney University, but universities right across the country.

JOURNALIST: Does that mean there's no need for the cap?

CLARE: No. No, it does not. We do need to make sure that international education is set at sustainable levels. And that's what - it's not a cap, we're not setting a cap - we are setting a National Planning Level of 295,000 commencements for next year. But we do need to make sure that the system is sustainable. And that's what the system we have put in place is all about.

JOURNALIST: Minister, I know you didn't want to weigh in on Jamberoo's decision to store BYDs in the car park, but the Opposition is now arguing that certain manufacturers are bringing in thousands of cars to stockpile on your carbon credits under your new vehicle efficiency scheme. Do you share the same concerns?

BOWEN: Do I share any concerns equivalent with the Opposition about any matters relating to climate change? The answer is no, because they don't believe in climate action and they will use any excuse and any alibi to avoid proper climate policy in Australia in 2025. And next week they're going to debate whether they believe in climate change, again. So, no. Now, the Chief Executive of BYD has made clear the reason they're importing a lot of cars into Australia is because a lot of Australians want to buy them. And if you walk around the streets of Western Sydney, you'll see a lot of electric vehicles, you'll see a lot of BYDs, you'll see a lot of BYD Sharks. Their very high selling ute, which I welcome. Now, they're managing their stockpile as they see fit. They've made clear the reason that they are importing so many at the moment is because of sales, not because of the NVES. The NVES is driving more models into Australia and that's a good thing. Now, you asked me on Saturday at the press conference to comment on - about where they store them. My answer in today's press conference is the same as it was on Saturday.

JOURNALIST: Wouldn't it make more sense for these carbon credits to apply after it's been sold rather than beforehand?

BOWEN: They’re not carbon credits. Let's get our language correct, please. They're not carbon credits. But we said we will look at point of sale reforms next year. But I'm very pleased with the way the NVES is working because the NVES is driving better choices for Australians, giving Australians more choices and more vehicles. I welcome that, the Opposition opposed it. The Opposition, when they were the government tried to do it and failed, they had our support, and they still managed to fail. And now from Opposition, they're saying they're against what they were for when they were in government, it shows how far they've fallen on climate action.

JOURNALIST: Have you had a conversation with the BYD CEO in person about their potential stockpiling practices?

BOWEN: No, because it's a matter for them. They have made clear, I've read it in the newspaper, that they are doing this because they see very high demand going forward, and they're deciding to bring the cars in on a schedule. I believe in capitalism and free markets and chief executives of car companies making decisions about when and how they import cars. Not the Minister for Energy.

JOURNALIST: Minister Bowen, just on COP, will Australia's, will Australia be contributing to President Lula's Tropical Forests Forever Facility?

BOWEN: When any there's a COP, and this is my fourth that I've led the Australian delegation to. There will be many, many initiatives which Australia has asked to sign up to. This is an important one by the COP President, Brazil. We'll make further statements about our participation in all the initiatives, including this one, during the COP.

JOURNALIST: Are you worried if you don't contribute to it, you may hurt Australia's chances of hosting the next COP?

BOWEN: No, because, I mean, we shouldn't read too much into that because as I said, I will make announcements about it in due course. But in relation to the COP bid, I'll pre-empt the next couple of questions, if that's ok. Situation remains the same. The support for Australia's bid is overwhelming, overwhelming around the world and in our group, which is the key decision making body. But the COP rules stipulate that to get COP hosting rights, you have to get the agreement of the other bidder, which is Türkiye. So, the fact that the world has expressed its view that they want Australia to host in one sense is only half the battle. Of course, then we've got to get Türkiye to agree. Whether Türkiye agrees with us or not, and we're in ongoing conversations, you know, decisions like President Lula's initiative had absolutely no bearing. I would respectfully suggest to you on what President Erdogan thinks about whether the COP should be held in Adelaide or in Antalya.

JOURNALIST: In the Tropical Forests foundation fund Forever Facility sorry, I nearly got it.

BOWEN: Yeah, very close, well done.

JOURNALIST: Do you think personally that's a good use of money and a good initiative?

BOWEN: Well, I'm not making an announcement. I do recognise the leadership that Brazil has brought to that topic. And I recognise too that deforestation obviously is a vital matter in South America and Brazil, but not just, in Asia in particular. In countries important to us in our region, it's also got a role to play, you know, and the Pacific, even when I think of New Guinea and other places. But I'm not making that announcement today.

JOURNALIST: How much money have we so far spent on the bid?

BOWEN: $7 million dollars.

JOURNALIST: And does the PM need to pick up the phone to the Turkish president?

BOWEN: I've been talking to my counterpart, Minister Murat Kurum. Penny Wong has been talking to her counterpart, Minister Fidan. And Anthony Albanese has been in correspondence with his counterpart, President Erdogan. That's a good government doing its job trying to resolve this.

JOURNALIST: Is there still enthusiasm from the government as a whole to host COP?

BOWEN: Absolutely. Absolutely. This is a remarkable geopolitical opportunity for our country. The climate is the number one, two, three, four and five issue for Pacific Islands. And it's also a remarkable opportunity as the world's largest trades fair, as a country that wants to be indispensable in the supply of critical minerals and renewable energy to the rest of the world. That's why we're bidding. 

JOURNALIST: Is President Erdogan effectively ignoring Prime Minister Albanese.

BOWEN: I wouldn't put it that way. And the governments are talking.