Senator LUNDY (7:06 PM) —I rise to put forward some comments in relation to the annual report of the Australian National University. Listening to Senator Tierney advocate his view in relation to university funding it is quite interesting to note that, nowhere in the rhetoric that we have just heard from Senator Tierney, do we find any commitment to equity of access to higher education in this country. In fact, what we are hearing from Senator Tierney is exactly the opposite: that universities should remain open only to the elite or those who can afford to fund their access. That is the message contained within the Liberals' contribution to this particular debate. We have seen through the massive cuts to the higher education sector the manifestation of that philosophical view.

I would like to turn my comments to the ANU and its role in our local region. As senators would know, the Canberra community has suffered many times over from cuts by this government. They are cuts that have affected our community in the harshest way, in the form of jobs and job losses. We have just heard from Senator Stott Despoja the degree to which people have lost their jobs at the ANU as a result of these cuts. Add to this the cumulative effect of public sector cuts and the flow-on to the private sector and we have a severely damaged regional economy. Education in the ACT and region represents over 30 per cent of our economy. We are very proud of our education base and it is one of our great strengths in this region. The ANU is very much a centrepiece of our education infrastructure.

The ANU also plays a critical role in technological developments in areas such as AARNet and the introduction of new information services to students, and indeed to the whole network of universities around this country. At no point has this innovation and commitment to these areas been recognised by this government in a way that will sustain and enhance the role that universities have played in improving access to new information technologies. The relationship between the ANU and an absolute myriad of cooperative research centres, associated particularly with the information technology area but also a wide range of other areas, positions the ANU soundly in the structure and affords it the status of being an education leader both in our region and in Australia.

Since I was elected to this place just over two years ago I have attended many demonstrations and rallies organised by both staff and students at the ANU demonstrating against the actions of this government. The cuts are not just to university funding, affecting academic and non-academic staff. We are still feeling the effects on almost a day to day basis as the university announces cut after cut forced by those funding arrangements. But students are also affected by cuts to Austudy and changes in arrangements. My electorate office was absolutely deluged as a result of the monumental stuff-up in relation to Austudy early last year.

If these attacks on support for students and funding levels for universities continue, the upshot will be less opportunity for young Australians. The upshot, of course, will be a diminution of the status of our higher education institutions in this country. That will result in a decline in general investment in areas like research and development and commercialisation. That, in turn, will undermine our economic growth prospects. There is no denying that these cumulative effects of cuts on universities will affect these longer-term issues.

The last point I would like to make is: think of what you are doing to the morale of the students in that place. Students now are facing increased fees. They are facing fewer opportunities as a result of this government. Start linking cross-portfolio areas about youth affairs and higher education. If you address the issue in the context of young people's morale, you start to see a very desolate picture being presented by this government. It has no compassion. It is not committed to the youth of Australia. What it is doing in higher education is a graphic example of that neglect. (Time expired)

Question resolved in the affirmative.