E&OE
CHARLIE MCKILLOP: Luke Sheehy is the Chief Executive of Universities Australia. He’s in Cairns today meeting with the local university and community leaders and is with you on ABC Far North. Mr Sheehy, good morning.
LUKE SHEEHY: Thanks for having me.
CHARLIE MCKILLOP: We spend a lot of our time here coveting the budgets and the attention of the sandstone universities in the capital cities. It’s your job to straddle both of those. How difficult is it for regional universities to compete on that playing field?
LUKE SHEEHY: Well, firstly, it’s a great privilege to represent all 39 of Australia’s comprehensive universities and it gets me the opportunity in the chillier parts of the year to get to this part of the world where the double digits is most welcome when it comes to the weather. Regional universities are backbones of not only local communities as employers and as you said, drivers of the future opportunities for regional Australia, but they’re fundamentally important to give all people in Australia from all walks of life the opportunity to get the skills they need to succeed in an ever-changing Australian economy. It’s always a great privilege to come to parts of regional Australia, particularly here in Far North Queensland, to talk to CQUniversity and of course James Cook University is here as well, fantastic universities that are providing thousands of students, both domestic and international, the opportunity of a world-class education. We know that they’re doing it really tough. Over the last number of years, billions of dollars have been stripped out of universities and that has impacted our regional universities and our universities serving growing suburban corridors the most. It’s my job to make the case in Canberra and across the country for better, sustainable funding for our universities and regional universities are at the front of the queue for that.
CHARLIE MCKILLOP: After the federal budget, we now have an election where you pretty much know what we’re going to get from the federal government going forward in its agenda, it has made big inroads in terms of trying to alleviate the financial pressure on students through the reduction of HECS debt. But how does that translate when you are looking at the providers of education who are still screaming out for more funding to be able to maintain the quality of their education outcomes?
LUKE SHEEHY: You’re absolutely right. We have to not only just keep the lights on, keep our staff employed so they can continue to deliver their mission of educating Australians and of course, doing the fundamentally important research that will drive the discoveries for new medicines and cures to illnesses, but also important industrial research that will help us make more productive approaches to existing and new industries. And then critically things like preserving the Great Barrier Reef and the beautiful environment in which we live and on this great continent that we all share. It’s important that the funding of our universities is both sustainable and allows all our universities to flourish and deliver on that core mission.
CHARLIE MCKILLOP: Is that tangible in the community? Is it a harder message? Because I guess when we think about skill shortages, most of us notice more readily when we can’t get a plumber or a tradie to come around and fix something in our homes than we do if there is a higher-level tertiary qualification that’s absent in our workforce. What can you tell people about the importance of having those skills available in our economy?
LUKE SHEEHY: Charlie, it’s important that we recognise that all parts of the tertiary education system are important to deliver the skills that Australia needs and to deliver the skilled workers we need. We all know how frustrating it is when you’re waiting weeks on end to get a sparky or a plumber to your house, but also how devastating it is when you can’t see a doctor, or you can’t get adequate nursing care or aged care that you need. Those skills are delivered through universities. We know that nearly six out of 10 jobs in the future economy will require a university level qualification. I’ve been talking to my friends here at CQUniversity over the last 24 hours and I know just how much we need some skilled workers in this region, particularly in areas of health. We know in things like medical imaging, there is a crisis of skilled workers in this region and CQU are working collaboratively with local industries to turbocharge training efforts in that vital area. We have a shortage by 2030 of more than 100,000 nurses in Australia alone. We need to turbocharge efforts in training nurses, and we know that if you train people or they study in the regions, they’re more likely to stay in the regions and invest in these communities in the long term. That’s not only a good thing for them and their individuals, but it’s a good thing for the community.
CHARLIE MCKILLOP: Chief Executive of Universities Australia Luke Sheehy is your guest on ABC Far North Breakfast. He’s talking about the role of universities in regional growth, in skills development and also focusing today on the future of higher education in Far North Queensland, which is despite me talking about the university’s crying poor. One thing that we are very excited about is the opening of the much-anticipated new campus for Central Queensland University. This has been a long time coming, but we are nearly there.
LUKE SHEEHY: It’s very exciting. I’m here today actually to meet with CQUniversity’s council who are all here in Cairns, and they’re having a tour of that wonderful new facility this morning. I’m delighted to see that previous election commitment from other budgets gone by come to life and it will deliver for this region. It’ll be particularly important, as I said, for the training and the uplift of training for nurses and other medical professions that this region so desperately needs. I think investing in universities sends a really strong signal to the community that universities are partners in building the future prosperity and opportunities for your region. I’m delighted to see that campus come online. I’m also delighted to know that there’s a growing demand for higher education at both CQU and of course JCU, who have a great campus here as well. There is a really vibrant higher education sector here in Cairns serving the Far North Queensland community. But as you said, my job is to make sure the finances of those universities are long-term and they’re sustainable, and that’s a job for Canberra. Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen billions of dollars ripped out of university funding. The previous Coalition government left us with a billion dollars less to teach more students and that has not yet been rectified by the Labor government. They’ve made some big promises over the last couple of years, and we know now with the interim Australian Tertiary Education Commission, their first job will be to ensure that our universities, particularly regional universities, have the adequate finances to do their job. Universities are not for profit, they’re not corporations, they’re not drawing profit out of the community. What they’re doing is getting adequate funding when they can, both through international students and through funding from the Commonwealth to deliver for people in the regions like Far North Queensland.
CHARLIE MCKILLOP: Luke Sheehy from Universities Australia. Thanks very much for dropping by and enjoy your time in our tropical city.
LUKE SHEEHY: Thanks for having me.
ENDS
