







THE HON CHRISTOPHER PYNE MP  Minister for Education  Leader of the House

SPEECH

**CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY**

Launch of the Diamond Deposition Suite,

Monash University,

Thursday 8 May 2014



Acknowledgements:

Ã¯ÂÂ· Professor Ed Byrne, Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash

University

Ã¯ÂÂ· Emeritus Professor Chris Fell, Chair of the Australian National

Fabrication Facility Board

Ã¯ÂÂ· Dr Cathy Foley, Chair of the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication

Collaboration Committee





Introduction

It is a great pleasure to be with you today to launch the Australian National

Fabrication Facility’s Diamond Deposition Suite.



This new facility will allow researchers here at Monash University, other

researchers represented here, and researchers across Australia to continue

their important work, and I’m delighted to be a part of that.



I should acknowledge that Professor Byrne will be leaving Australia soon to

serve as Principal and President of King’s College London. This appointment

certainly shows the outstanding qualities that we all know Ed has.



Professor Byrne, my sincerest congratulations on this prestigious

appointment.



National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS)

Launching this facility, I am more impressed than ever by the achievements

of our researchers and what they have done for Australia.



This facility is one of 27 such facilities funded under the National

Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy. Across Australia, 222

research institutions use these facilities.



Since 2004, the Australian Government has invested more than $2.5 billion

in research infrastructure. This investment has attracted more than $1

billion in contributions from universities, other governments and industry.



This investment supports scientists and researchers to develop tools to

solve Australia’s and the world’s most pressing problems. These problems

range from making organ transplants work to increasing the world’s food

supply.



The Australian National Fabrication Facility

The Diamond Deposition Suite is the most advanced facility of its kind in

Australia.



The facility grows diamonds. But this is not about making expensive

jewellery.



The diamonds grown here are compressed into films about half the width

of a human hair, to manufacture devices that will restore sight to the blind.



My understanding is that a tiny seed diamond - 10 nanometres in diameter

- is combined with carbon atoms to grow a layer of diamond, to a desired

shape or size. These layers can then be used as windows in optical devices

that can be implanted in the human eye.



Innovations such as these are something we could only dream about not

long ago.



And it is in no small part thanks to Australian researchers that they are now

possible.



The Australian Government has provided more than $113 million to the

Australian National Fabrication Facility and this is money well spent. This

investment opens up opportunities for the facility to engage in the multi-billion dollar international medical bionic implants industry with potential

benefits to Australia that will more than pay for the government’s

investment.



You should be extremely proud of the work you do and excited about what

the future holds.



Why education and research are important

As well as believing in the crucial importance of research, this government

believes in opening up opportunities for all Australians to prosper.



We all know that it is vitally important for every Australian student to get

the best education they can - no matter where they come from and what

their parents do. A good education almost always leads to a good job,

earning good money and being able to provide for yourself and your family

over your lifetime.

Australian university graduates on average earn up to 75 per cent more

than those who do not go on to higher education after secondary school.

Over their lifetime graduates may earn around a million dollars more than if

they had not gone to university.



University graduates are less likely to be unemployed; they live longer and

have better health.



The jobs of the future will need workers who can use new technology and

develop new ideas like we see demonstrated here today. But we are at risk

of losing these future jobs to overseas countries if we do not educate our

young people so that they can compete for jobs with people from those

countries.



Australia has a long-standing reputation for producing world class research

especially in fields such as medicine, biology, water management and

mining. This research helps our successful businesses grow and increase

their earnings and boosts Australia’s overseas exports.



For these reasons the government is determined to support more young

Australians to get a good education and contribute to our society and the

economy though their skills and research.



The Budget challenge

Australia has a good higher education and research system. The

Government deeply values the various roles that all our universities play.

This includes preparing Australians for the professions such as engineering,

medicine and law; training teachers, nurses and administrators; and

opening up new possibilities to students across Australia from the inner

cities, outer metropolitan areas and regions. The role of our universities in

creating opportunity for students is something we deeply value.



But our higher education system needs to be - and it could be - so much

better.



In framing the forthcoming federal Budget for higher education and

research, the Government faces five significant challenges:



The first is that we must repair the national Budget, given the unsustainable

Budget deficits and ballooning debt that we have been left by the previous

government.



Second, Australia’s higher education and research systems are at risk of

being left behind and overtaken by the growing university systems in our

region.



Thirdly, growth in the number of higher education students as a result of

the introduction of demand driven bachelor degree places is driving up the

cost of higher education to the taxpayer. But there are compelling reasons

to expand the demand driven system to support more students - spreading

opportunity further for students.



Fourth, the previous government also left us with funding cliffs for essential

research programmes.



Fifth, we must meet all those challenges in ways that are fair and

reasonable both to students and to taxpayers.

The forthcoming Budget will respond to all of these challenges through a

fair and balanced higher education and research reform package.



The Budget announcements in relation to higher education and research

will take account of extensive national discussion and consultation on these

issues.



This includes the review of the demand-driven system by former Monash

Professor and Education Minister Dr David Kemp and Andrew Norton that

received over 80 submissions.



It also includes the findings of the Commission of Audit that received more

than 20 submissions from universities and their peak bodies.



It also includes the extensive debate in this country over many years about

the kinds of reforms that are necessary both to expand opportunity for

students and to ensure that Australia isn’t left behind in international

competition.



Growth in higher education

We’ve seen huge growth in the number of students attending university.

Domestic undergraduate students grew by 30 per cent in the ten years

from 2003 to 2012. This includes growth of more than 15 per cent in just

three years during the introduction of the demand driven higher education

system resulting from the Bradley review.



This growth in university participation is good for Australia but I can’t deny

that it is putting a strain on our ability to afford to support so many

students.

As the number of students keeps growing, the cost to taxpayers rises with

it. Currently taxpayers pay $6 for every $4 that students pay.



Students do not make their contribution to the costs until they are earning

a decent living. There has been considerable public discussion over the past

few years about how much graduates should pay given the large personal

benefit they receive from higher education.



Research funding cliffs

When I talk about funding cliffs for research programmes I’m referring to

the fact that the previous government did not set aside a single dollar for

the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy beyond 30 June

next year.



There is a similar situation for the Future Fellowships programme that

supports mid-career researchers to undertake world-class research in

Australia. There is no provision for any new awards to be made from 2015

onwards.



I know we have Future Fellow recipients here today. You and your

colleagues here and across Australia have rightly raised your concerns

about these funding cliffs. I can assure you that the Government has been

listening to your concerns.



Risk of being left behind

I share Universities Australia’s concerns expressed in their campaign Keep it

Clever - that Australia’s higher education system is at risk of being left

behind.

In the last five years one Australian university has entered the top 200

universities in the Academic Ranking of World Universities, joining six

Australian universities already there. Five years ago there were no Chinese

universities in this top 200; today there are five. Chinese universities are

gaining in international standing at a rapid pace, and ours are not.



We must aspire to not only keep up with our competitors, but to keep

ahead of them.



I want Australia to have the best higher education system in the world.



What would the best higher education system in the world look like?

This is a serious ambition and we should ask ourselves what the best higher

education system in the world would look like and how we could get there.



There has been much thought and discussion on these issues in Australia

and overseas. I hope there will be much more.



In a recent article Ross Williams and his colleagues stressed the importance

of autonomy and resources for a quality higher education system.



Similarly the World Bank has identified features of a world class higher

education institution including a high concentration of talent, resources

from diverse sources and governance arrangements where institutions can

make decisions and manage resources without being encumbered by

unnecessary bureaucracy. They found that such governance arrangements

encourage strategic vision, innovation and flexibility.

My own view has been informed by these sources and the discussions I’ve

been having across Australia and elsewhere both before and since I became

Minister for Education.



For me, the best higher education system would provide more

opportunities for students from all backgrounds to choose the course and

the type of higher education provider that is right for them. There would be

a wide diversity of good choices for students.



In this system higher education would be affordable for students, with no

upfront costs and costs would be shared fairly between students and

taxpayers.



The system would provide world class teaching and research with some of

our universities being among the very best in the world. All higher

education institutions would be pursuing their particular goals as well as

they possibly could.



Students could choose to study where and what they want and universities

and higher education colleges would have the freedom to provide the very

best education in the world to meet the needs of their students.



Government’s role would be to help students and promote research,

uphold the quality of the system without unnecessary red tape and make

sure the taxpayer’s contribution to the cost is well spent.



More opportunities for students from all backgrounds

The most important part of my vision for the world’s best higher education

system is that it gives students what they need.



More competition between higher education providers would be good for

students.



If universities and colleges were able to compete on price, it would mean

they must have a greater focus on meeting the needs of students. They

would need to continuously improve the teaching and learning they offer to

attract students.



They would need to recognise that not all students are the same and they

have different needs and interests. But students all want a good

educational experience, the best teachers and the best preparation for a

good job now and in the future.



Achieving this would require government to change the way it treats

universities and colleges, and to give them more freedom to do what they

do best - which I’ll say more about in a minute.



Universities and colleges playing to their strengths would be good for

students.



I couldn’t put it better than Ed Byrne, who has said:

“It’s just unsustainable to have a system where every university aspires to

do exactly the same thing as the next one….there’s so much opportunity to

improve our excellence by letting each institution play to its strengths -

being the best regional university, being a superb technical university, being

a great research-intensive university, and so on.”



I would add that some universities would excel at opening up access to

their local population base while others would become national or

international centres for excellence in particular fields.



We should take account of the advice from Kemp and Norton that pathway

courses are the best option for some students. They pointed out that

pathway programmes with a qualification offered by universities and non-university higher education providers are excluded from the demand driven

higher education system. This means the number of university diploma

courses is tightly controlled and that students who have chosen to study for

a degree or a higher education diploma with a private college or through

TAFE are not supported by the government.



These arrangements encourage students to enter bachelor degree

programmes when they may be better suited to a diploma programme.

Pathway courses suit many students who are less well prepared to attend

university and they also prepare students for jobs where there is growing

demand. The government could do more to ensure that students can study

what they choose and where they choose.



I am mindful that, if the Government did adopt the recommendation of the

Kemp-Norton review and of the Bradley review before it to support all

students in all registered higher education providers through the

Commonwealth Grant Scheme, there would need to be very careful

attention given to how this is done. After an in-principle decision along

these lines, it would be necessary for there to be consultation and review of

relevant evidence to determine the appropriate conditions of eligibility for

Commonwealth-supported places, and the terms of such places. Obviously,

only providers registered with the tertiary quality agency, TEQSA, could be

eligible, and only for accredited courses; and there would be other

important conditions as well.



Moreover, there are important differences between universities and non-university higher education providers that need to be recognised. As you

know, universities are required to undertake research and non-university

higher education providers are not. For this reason it would be appropriate

for Commonwealth-supported places in non-university providers to be

funded at a lower rate than in universities. There are other differences

between universities and non-university higher education providers that

may be relevant, perhaps including different community expectations and

service obligations.



The size of the difference in funding per student would depend on careful

review of the relevant arguments and evidence following any initial

decision in principle to support all Australian higher education students

with all registered higher education providers. The Government would

certainly wish to ensure that high-quality pathway programmes into

university are encouraged and supported in any such move.

The best higher education system in the world would continue to recognise

that disadvantaged students need additional support to enrol in and

complete higher education. In Australia these students include many

students from outer-metropolitan and regional areas, many Indigenous

students and others who may be the first in their family to attend higher

education.



The Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University,

Professor Gareth Evans and Professor Ian Young, have recently argued that

for Australia to have the highest quality universities, we need to free

universities to set their own fees. Gareth Evans and Ian Young also said, and

I quote:

“In such a system, access and equity becomes a crucial issue. … we propose

that any institution that raised the student contribution would also need to

offer additional equity scholarships. Such scholarships could address both

tuition costs and living expenses, thus addressing one of the real barriers to

study suffered by low socio-economic status students. Such scholarships

would also act as a magnet for enhanced philanthropic contributions to

support outstanding students. The objective must be to enhance, not in any

way diminish, access to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.”

I believe that the world’s best higher education system would enhance

both quality and access.



The world’s best higher education system would also provide better

information for students and their parents about study options. Students

need clear information about the quality of their course, how successful

previous graduates have been at securing jobs and what other students and

employers think of the course. I am committed to providing this

information to future students.



The world’s best higher education system would prepare students for the

jobs of the future.



Freeing up the universities and colleges to compete, diversifying the course

offerings supported by government, improving access and equity, and

providing better information to students will all help to provide

opportunities for students to be become well prepared citizens and

workers of the future.



No up-front costs for students but costs must be shared fairly

As I mentioned earlier, the government is considering how the costs of

higher education should be shared across the community.



Whatever we decide about that question, opportunities for students must

continue to be provided without them having to pay a dollar up-front.



Australia’s Higher Education Loan Programme, where students make a

contribution to the costs of their education only once they are earning a

decent living, is the envy of the world. I am committed to strengthening this

loan scheme to ensure it is affordable for students and the taxpayer into

the future and remains a central component of our approach to higher

education.

World class teaching and research - Australia must not be left behind

As I’ve said, we have a good system now but we need to do more to avoid

slipping behind. The rest of the world is adapting while Australia is

constrained by an out-of-date funding system.



A quality education system comes from each university and college

providing the best teaching and research according to its strengths,

meeting the needs of its students and the businesses that employ its

graduates.



Australia has some truly world-class researchers. Programmes initiated

under the Howard government addressed the brain-drain where our best

researchers were leaving Australia for jobs overseas.



Freedom to meet the diverse needs of students

“Moscow on the Molongo” is a term that has been used to describe how

the Australian Government has controlled the university system from

Canberra (which, as you know, is on the Molonglo River). The Soviet system

was disbanded long ago but government control of universities in Australia

lingers. While the government no longer tells universities how many

bachelor degree students they can take, it continues to dictate how much

students are charged for their place.



The current approach also limits what universities offer. Our best

universities have limited prospects of competing with the best in the world

and will be overtaken by the fast developing universities of Asia.

The best higher education system in the world would give universities and

colleges greater control over their budgets and their capacity to attract and

keep students.



Universities and colleges would not be weighed down by unnecessary red

tape and would be trusted to do what they do best - excellent teaching and

research and nurturing students.



High quality without red tape

The best role for government is not controlling what universities do but

ensuring that they can provide high quality without the burden of red tape

and unnecessary reporting. The government has already taken a number of

steps along this pathway to ensure principles of necessary, proportionate

and risk-based regulation.



TEQSA was found by Kemp and Norton to be a guard against poor quality

courses and institutions in an expanding higher education system. TEQSA

will continue to play this role as we give universities more freedom and as

the number of students supported by the government and taxpayers

continues to grow.



What can we expect in the Budget?

In his address to the Sydney Institute last week, the Prime Minister set the

scene for the Budget next week. He said “everything about this Budget is

calculated to boost the long term strength of our economy”. Through this

Budget we will shift our focus from “our own short term anxieties to our

nation’s long-term opportunities”.



The Prime Minister said “Universities’ funding will shift but they will have

much more freedom to innovate and to build on Australia’s strength as a

magnet for students, teachers and researchers from around the world….”



While I have not been revealing the details of the Budget today, I can again

assure you that it will contain a fair and balanced higher education and

research reform agenda. This will enable Australia to have a truly world

class higher education system that spreads opportunity, achieving benefits

for our students and our country.



Closing

In closing, I would like to urge those of you from universities and colleges to

take up the exciting opportunities that reform to higher education will

provide. For the first time you will have a real chance to demonstrate how

initiative, innovation and creativity can benefit your students and the

nation.



I also urge students to take up the new opportunities that will be available

to them. Their enthusiasm and demands they make of their educational

institutions will help to drive more flexible and successful education

options.



Finally I would like again to congratulate the Australian National Fabrication

Facility and it is my pleasure to declare the Diamond Deposition Suite open.



ENDS

Mr Pyne’s Media: 0407 691 050, pynemedia@education.gov.au   Department Media: media@education.gov.au

