Transcript 17 Dec 2008 - SkyNews - Bradley Review

David Spiers

Christopher Pyne, are there any areas recommended that you particularly disagree with?

Hon Christopher Pyne MP

Well I endorse the recommendations of the Bradley Review in general; we’ll obviously take our time over the summer break to consider carefully what Denise Bradley has recommended. There are some key areas the Opposition really welcomes. We obviously welcome a more student centred focus on funding, rather than an institution centred. We welcome removing the noose of bureaucracy from around the necks of the University sector. I welcome the accreditation agency that will be nationally based to provide national standards across the Universities. We obviously have to carefully consider Denise’s proposals regarding regional universities, because regional universities have a very important part in the economic and social lives of regional centres.

David Spiers

Well I want to get through some of those things, but can I ask, but can I ask you, one of the main recommendations here is to increase the number of young Australians who go to University from 29% of the population to 40%. Now I guess some might read this as a suggestion that under the Howard Government there was too much focus on trained skills rather than universities, do you accept that that was the case, that there needs to be a greater focus on boosting the number of young Australians going to universities?

Christopher Pyne

Under the Howard Government there was a huge increase in traineeships, a very substantial increase in apprenticeships, and there was a substantial increase in the numbers of students going to University, so we increased in all of those areas, because you can walk and chew gum at the same time in education, but I’d always encourage more young Australians particularly to go to universities to get better educations, because it improves their chances at employment and higher incomes of course, and an extra 330,000 students by 2010, doesn’t seem to me to be an ambitious target. I think we can achieve that. It’s basically only 30,000 extra students a year. With the reforms to the Higher Education sector freeing up the sector to find new ways of creating revenue and adding a new student centred focus of funding, that is eminently achievable and we would welcome it.

David Spiers

What do you make of this suggestion for some sort of national regional university, bringing together regional universities into one umbrella organisation.

Christopher Pyne

Well like the entire report we’ll need to consider that carefully. Obviously the Coalition has very strong links to rural and regional Australia. We want to support Universities remaining in regional Australia. I can’t see any reason why, if there is an amalgamation for example of Universities, that leads to less campuses, the campuses themselves are more often than not returning the necessary revenue to the University as a whole, but we’ll have to carefully consider that and obviously talk to my parliamentary colleagues in Canberra about how we respond to the entire report.

David Spiers

Are you worried that we might see a reduction in the campuses that are in regional Australia or indeed the choices that are on offer to regional students?

Christopher Pyne

Well that would worry me, because I do know the economic impact and the social impact that regional universities and their campuses have. I’m more worried though that the Denise Bradley report will actually sit on the shelf, because there isn’t the money. After twelve months of a Labor Government we’ve now spent the surplus, we’re going into deficit; the Bradley Review will cost at least $6.5 billion to implement. My sense is that is a very conservative estimate and it will probably cost a great deal more, and the cupboard is bare. Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan have left nothing for the future, so goodness knows how they’re actually going to implement this review. The worst thing that could happen is for it to sit on the shelf and nothing to come of it.

David Spiers

Well let’s get to that $6.5 billion is a lot of money, it would put the budget into deficit if it was spent at the moment. Is it worth going into deficit for the sake of boosting Australia’s Higher Education sector?

Christopher Pyne

Well, David, we’re not going to give a leave pass to the Rudd/Gillard Government to go into deficit to pay for all their promises. They’re in Government and they have to make the tough decisions about what they do or don’t do. They thought a priority was to provide a sweetener to local Mayors after the Mayors summit. $300 million was a priority for this Government. The question is what they think is going to be important in the future in Australia. If they really want to invest in Higher Education in Australia, they have a Review; they’ve got a blueprint for how to do so. They have to grapple the various priorities in that Review, and they have to come up with the money if they want to do it. I’m not going to make those decisions for them. That’s a decision they have to make. I didn’t make the decision to spend the surplus in twelve months and I won’t be encouraging them to go into deficit either.

David Spiers

I don’t recall the Coalition opposing the $300 million for the Mayors, the $10.4 billion stimulus package or indeed any of the other measures the Government has announced in recent months. Do you oppose any of those spending measure that have reduced the surplus significantly?

Christopher Pyne

Well the Opposition’s job is not to, is not to do the Government’s job for them. If the Government doesn’t think they can manage the Budget, then that’s fine, get out of the way and let the Opposition govern again like we did about twelve months ago. They’ve got to make the tough decisions, but there’s absolutely no reason at all why the Labor Government should have managed to get through a surplus in twelve months time – it was $22 billion; some economists think that the deficit could be as much as $22 billion next Budget, that’s a $44 billion turnaround in twelve months - quite an achievement.

David Spiers

But with respect you could tell where they should not be spending money?

Christopher Pyne

In the fullness of time, as they say, the Leader and the Treasury Spokesman will deal with that as the Budget approaches in May. That’s not today, today is to outline the Opposition’s response to the Bradley Review which we largely welcome because it moves to a less centralised focus, to a more student-centric funding model and removes bureaucracy that is currently strangling the Higher Education sector.

David Spiers

All right, Shadow Education Minister, Christopher Pyne, thankyou very much for joining us.