Press Conference — Mildura, Victoria

E&OE TRANSCRIPT Press Conference — Mildura, Victoria 3 July 2014 SUBJECTS: Benefits of higher education reforms for regional areas, Headspace ANDREW BROAD: Well, thank you for coming along. We are really excited to have the Federal Education Minister here in the Mallee. I think it's been over 28 years since we've seen the Federal Education Minister in the Mallee, and when I asked Christopher Pyne to come, he said: yes, I'd love to come. Now, the reason he's here is because we believe that higher education is instrumental to diversifying our economy, to making sure that we have opportunities for our young adults. And we wanted him to come along and to listen, to talk to some of the school principals, to talk to some of our community leaders about the importance of higher education, what their dreams are, and to hope that, ensuring that the dreams of our students can be fulfilled both in the Mallee and when they've got to shift away to the courses that aren’t offered in Mildura. And so that's why he's here. One of the things we've looked at so the itinerary has been that we've met with the Monash Rural School of Health to look at the simulation mannequins. And they are really something else if you've never had a chance to have a look at those. But also, we wanted to meet with the Headspace consortium because people don't realise, but Christopher Pyne, when he was Parliamentary Secretary to Health in the Howard Government, instigated Headspace. And so it's been a passion of his that's now gone through the Howard Government, the multiple leaders in the Labor Government and now into the Abbott Government. And to see a program that he's instrumented, that's been taken up by all sides of parliament and now to see that in Mildura is something that he certainly expressed an interest in, and it's very pleasing to see that we're going to get one. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Excellent. Well, thank you very much, Andrew, for inviting me here to the Mallee, and I'm very pleased to be here. I've been travelling throughout rural and regional Australia the last few days, starting in Mackay, going to Townsville, then to Lismore, Dubbo, Wagga and now finishing in Mildura, because there are a number of things that I wanted to do. Primarily, I want to sell the Government's higher education reforms and make sure that rural Australia understands that these higher education reforms are great for rural Australia and they will give rural Australia and rural universities a competitive advantage over their city cousins. I might explain that a bit in a minute. But I've also wanted to do some other things while I've been out in rural Australia. So I've been visiting Indigenous eye health facilities because my father was an ophthalmologist who founded the first glaucoma and trachoma program in Australia in the early 1980s. I visited the Royal Flying Doctor Service because my father was a royal flying doctor. And Amanda Vanstone is one of my very best friends and she's the national chairman, and she says whenever I go to a rural area, she wants me to go to the RFDS and tell them what a great job they're doing, which is a good thing, people like to be valued. So I went out to the RFDS in Dubbo. I've also been making sure that Headspace is still alive and well. I'm here in Mildura; this will be the next Headspace. There are 15 Headspaces announced in the Budget and one's coming to Mildura probably opening for consumers early next year. And I had the great privilege in the Howard Government, as Andrew mentioned, of founding Headspace. And it was such a good program that it survived the Rudd/Gillard Government and is now going to have another lease of life under the Abbott Government. So I'm trying to see that, in terms of mental health, Indigenous eye health, the Royal Flying Doctor Service and in higher education, that rural Australia is being given its proper share of government support. And as a Cabinet Minister, I'm pleased to be here to lend weight to the requirement and the fairness that rural Australia expects from a government in Canberra. There are three reasons why I think rural Australia will be the big winners from my higher education reforms. Firstly, because we're expanding the Commonwealth Grant Scheme to non-university higher education providers. That will mean in places like Mildura that the collaboration between university campuses and TAFEs will take on a whole new meaning as we have a shot of revenue into the TAFEs and into private providers that they didn't previously get. So that would be a revenue support for the kinds of courses that a lot of rural Australians use to then access undergraduate positions at university. Secondly, while Labor took the cap off the undergraduate places at university, it remained on diplomas and associate degrees. So we're going to lift that cap and apply the demand-driven system to diplomas and undergraduate degrees, associate degrees. Why is that good for rural Australia? Because universities in rural Australia typically offer a large number of diplomas and associate degrees because they recognise that the expectations of too many rural Australians is not to go onto university. And so when they're at school, they don't think that they'll go to university. And in the Mallee, that's very obvious, because while many finish year 12, it has one of the lowest percentages of students going on to uni. So many rural universities use diplomas and associate degrees to bring students in to do those courses to then lead on to undergraduate degrees. So rural universities will do very well out of the demand-driven system for sub-bachelor places. And finally, because rural universities will be able to compete with their metropolitan cousins on cost of living, on quality of life, the lifestyle of living in rural areas. They'll be able to use their Commonwealth scholarships funds to put packages together for relocation, whether it's city young people moving to the country and then hopefully staying here for good or whether it's the local country people being supported to come to the town and live in the town. And they'll be able to compete with universities on price because they'll be able to charge less in order to attract students. So our reforms are good for rural Australia, and I'm very pleased to be here to support those and explain them to the community in Mildura and beyond. QUESTION: What benchmarks has your government put in place to get students, to get more rural students to get to tertiary education? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well, we expect that, over the next four years, by 2018, there'll be 80,000 more undergraduate and diploma and associate degree students in Australia. There are currently 750,000, so we expect that number to increase by 80,000, and many of those will be low SES and rural students, either in the non-university higher education providers or in the demand-driven system for diplomas in the sub-bachelor courses. That is a big advantage for rural students. I'm not putting goals on these things because I think goals are, by their very nature, unscientific. But I think you'll find that, over the course of the next few years, the biggest winners from those will be universities in, like, Western Sydney and in rural Australia who offer a preponderance of those kinds of courses. QUESTION: With Headspace, what's the status of the actual location of the centre at the moment? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well, without wanting to give away any information that I'm not aware is confidential or available, the money has been allocated. The Headspace will occur. The consortium has been brought together. There was accommodation, but that accommodation has…will not be going ahead. They are searching for new accommodation, and probably in a better place that's more custom-made for their needs. And they anticipate that will be finished, found and renovated by the end of this year, and the consumers will start being offered services in the beginning of 2015, which is great news for young people and their families in this district. QUESTION: And on the higher education issue, we know La Trobe here is going to be downsizing its accounting courses, and you mentioned you want more opportunities for rural people, so how does that fit in if those people are going to have to go to Bendigo or Melbourne, for example? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Because the university sector is not static, it's ever-changing. Courses downsized, even closed, other courses are created and increased. That's the way the university sector should work. Courses that were being offered in the 1970s are not being offered today because it is not a static part of the economy. International education is the fifteenth largest - sorry, it's the fourth largest export industry in Australia, it's worth $15 billion. It's very important we give our universities the freedom that they need to do the things they do well even better and do more of it. Now, at the moment, to get revenue, every university has to offer the full suite of courses to students, even if they don't want to and they don't think it's their core business. Under the reforms that we propose, universities will be able to put more resources and more effort into the things they know that they do really well. Now, it might be that La Trobe downsizes one particular course, but then in the expansion of La Trobe in other areas that they do well, they might well open those courses here in Mildura. QUESTION: What do you say to the La Trobe, Bendigo student association who says proposed staff cuts will lead to a diminished tertiary experience for students? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well, the staff cuts at La Trobe have been in the pipeline for 12 months. John Dewar, who's the Vice-Chancellor of La Trobe, announced those about two weeks ago. They have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the Federal Government, and he has to manage his university as he sees fit, and therefore, he should answer those questions about why and where he's made those staff cuts. QUESTION: Are they justified in fearing regional students will be hit particularly hard by university reforms? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: No. In fact, as I've outlined in my statement and my previous answers, I think rural students will be the biggest winners in my reforms. QUESTION: Were you impressed with how everything's going with the Mildura Headspace? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well, yes. I am. I'm very pleased that it will be opening. I mean, it's - the enthusiasm in the room is immense. One of the reasons we established headspace the way we have is that when I was a parliamentary secretary for Health, I went and visited Pat McGorry's Orygen Health in north-west Melbourne. It brings together all the disciplines, all the areas where a young person with…presenting with mental health might need assistance, and in the past, they might present at the wrong place, and the – whoever they talked to – might say: look, you actually need to go down the road to the alcohol rehabilitation or whatever. The great thing about Orygen Health and Headspace is that we're…when the young person presents, they're not sent away. All of those particular disciplines are together, whether it's alcohol, drugs, tobacco abuse, violence, homelessness, employment. They're all in the same place. And when I was growing up, my father established the Australian Craniofacial Unit in Adelaide in 1975, and it worked on the basis that it brought together ophthalmologists, speech pathologists, neurosurgeons, plastic surgeons, all the people that a patient would need over the course of their recovery and operation. And because of its - that plan, it's now the national craniofacial unit in Australia. Well, it was then and remains so. So Headspace appealed to me, because I could see how that model would work, and Mildura has done that beautifully here, in terms of bringing together all of those different groups, none of them disagreeing with each other, all wanting to just provide great services to young people. So when it's up and running next year, hopefully, I'll get the chance to come back, if Andrew will have me, and visit them and see them in operation. QUESTION: What will be discussed at an invite … CHRISTOPHER PYNE: That'll be two visits from the Education Minister in a year, after none in 28. QUESTION: Yeah. That will be [indistinct] you [indistinct] QUESTION: So you might come and launch it, is that what you're saying, potentially? [Indistinct] CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Depending on my schedule, I'll - I'd like to visit it. Don't know if I would launch it. Somebody else might want to do that, like the Minister for Health, but I'm - I'll try and visit it next year. QUESTION: Sorry. What will be discussed at an invite-only forum, education forum, this evening that's of benefit to the wider community? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well, I expect that they'll want to talk about school policies, a robust curriculum, teacher quality, autonomy in schools, parental engagement, funding of schools. I assume they'll want to talk about the offerings in higher education in this, in Mildura and the wider district. I understand that there'll be representation from the local council, the universities, the non-university higher education providers, principals from all around the area. So, I - it'll be a wide-ranging discussion, and my plan is to - I have two ears and one mouth, and I intend to use those in proportion today at the meeting. QUESTION: What sort of reception are you expecting when you arrive at SuniTAFE in La Trobe this afternoon? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well, I expect to be received well by them. I am looking forward to seeing them. ANDREW BROAD: Thanks, everyone. QUESTION: Are you aware of protestors coming there? I've heard whispers, but I … CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well, I think the only thing I'd say about that is that they had to import protestors all the way from Melbourne to Mildura, because the people of Mildura are so happy with my reforms. ANDREW BROAD: Great. Thanks, everyone. [ends]