Transcript - Doorstop

JOURNALIST: Minister, the Coalition seems to now be backing away from its commitment to imposing a student cap. What's your response to that?

JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION:  It's just bizarre. I think Australians who are waking up this morning thinking what the hell is going on in the Liberal Party? What's going on in Peter Dutton's brain? In one simple decision he's blown up his entire credibility on immigration. Now remember, the biggest speech of Peter Dutton's political life was the Budget Reply speech this year where he said categorically, if he became Prime Minister, he'd put a cap on the number of international students that come to Australia every year. Now we know that was a lie because he's going to tell his senators to vote against a cap on international students. You've got Peter Dutton lying. At the same time, you've got senior Shadow Ministers to date who can't answer basic questions about whether they even support a cap anymore or not. So, you've got this toxic combination of lies and incompetence. And it just goes to show that the Liberal Party is not ready to govern this country.

JOURNALIST: What's the impact on the uncertainty in the university sector? Many have been preparing for these caps to come in on July - on January 1. They've made staffing arrangements, other preparations. What is the impact of this uncertainty in the sector?

CLARE: A lot of universities want these caps. 16 universities wrote to me earlier this year saying that this is a better way to manage international students. 70 per cent of Australians when polled say they support these caps. It just blows my mind that the Liberal Party think it's a good idea to get into bed with the Greens, of all parties, and vote to stop this legislation, to stop us putting a cap on international student migration. You've got to ask Peter Dutton what in the hell is going on in his head. Now this legislation was introduced over 180 days ago. Peter Dutton hasn’t been in front of a camera here in Parliament House to answer hard questions in more than 140 days. If he's going to make a bad decision like this, that's all about politics, not about controlling migration, then he needs to front the cameras here and answer the tough questions.

JOURNALIST: Last one for me, the Coalition's position now seems to be that they want to view migration and the visa system holistically, rather than impose caps on any specific sector, including the tertiary education sector. Do you want more clarity than that? Is that a fair response, to look at it as a broader issue rather than look at one industry in specific?

CLARE: It's time for the Liberal Party to cough up and provide some details on what they're going to do if they win the next election. No details on migration, no details on the cost of these new nuclear reactors that they say will be ready in 20 or 30 years’ time. No details on anything. All we know, if they win the next election, they want to shut down Woolies and Coles. They want to build nuclear reactors that will cost a bomb and take too long to ever get up and running. And they want to increase the pay of politicians. That doesn't strike me as a winning combination to govern the country. That's all we know that they will do.

The fundamental thing here is about trust and credibility. You can't act tough on immigration and now go soft on this. You can't act tough on immigration and then vote against legislation to put a limit on the number of international students who come into our country every year. That's what Peter Dutton is doing. And worse than that, he promised he would do this and now he's doing the opposite. And so, for most Australians waking up today, they'll say, “if I can't trust Peter Dutton on immigration, how can I trust him on anything else?”

JOURNALIST: So, what are you going to do after the next election when it comes to the further tranche of university reform?

CLARE: The university reform will continue. We're implementing stage one of the University Accord recommendations. There's a bill in the Parliament right now that will fix the indexation of HECS, introduce paid prac for the very first time, as well as massively expand the number of those free courses that help more young people get a crack at university. I announced it on the weekend, an extra 10 university study hubs for the first time in our outer suburbs. And I hope before the end of the year to be able to provide more detail on the structure of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission that I want to set up, as well as how we fund our universities to help more Aussie kids go to university. Ultimately, this is what it's all about, helping more Aussie kids get a crack at university. And I make no apologies for saying that we need to put a cap on the number of international students who come and study at our universities.

I thought Peter Dutton had his head screwed on the right way and understood that a cap is something that makes common sense. It seems like he doesn't. And Australian people today will be thinking, “if I can't trust Dutton on this, how can I trust him on anything?”

JOURNALIST: Minister, has the Coalition come to you with any kind of alternative or have they just said that they’re not going to support it?

CLARE: Zero. Their criticisms are, “the cap doesn't do this, the cap doesn't do that.” The legislation provides the power for the Australian Government to put a cap on international students, full stop. So, that cap could be 200,000, it could be 100,000, it could be zero. It gives the Commonwealth Government the power we need to cap international students. And if that's what Peter Dutton thinks should happen, then he should vote for this legislation.

JOURNALIST: Side issue, the ACT has just signed a new deal with you today. Does it put more pressure now on NSW and Victoria? You've got any upcoming meetings with your state counterparts there? Are you close to a deal?

CLARE: Dom, come along to the press conference in a bit over an hour.

JOURNALIST: I've got the press club.

CLARE: You've got the press club. This is more important. Who's speaking at the press club today?

JOURNALIST: Former Ambassador to China.

CLARE: Well, that's important, but so is this. I'll talk about it then. I've gotta go.