Greens polling shows majority of Tasmanians oppose Uni cuts that will slash UTAS jobs

Australian Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson has today released Tasmanian polling showing majority opposition to University cuts as the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) holds a National Day of Action calling for the reversal of $2.3B in funding cuts announced in April 2013.

“Labor’s cuts to higher education funding, backed by Tony Abbott, put up to 150 jobs and $10 million per annum at risk in Tasmania,” said Senator Peter Whish-Wilson.

“Today I’ve released polling of over 1500 Tasmanians that shows two-thirds oppose these job destroying cuts to our University with over 75pc of young voters, the future of our state, against Labor’s plan.

“How many times has both Tony Abbott and Kevin Rudd been to Tasmania with election promises on jobs but failed to come clean on their cuts to the University of Tasmania (UTAS)?

“You can’t talk about a jobs plan in Tasmania without talking about the importance of UTAS and higher education.

“UTAS directly employs over 2,700 academic and professional staff and delivers up to $500 million into the local economy per annum – it is the third biggest employer in the state.

“Cuts to funding will add between $6,000 to $12,000 to the HECS debt of the most disadvantaged students and place more pressure on staff who are already coping with retrenchments, under resourced faculties, and class sizes that have almost doubled over a generation.

“We should be increasing funding for UTAS to help deliver the research and innovation necessary to help build Tasmania’s new industries and jobs of the future.

“The Greens plan to increase funding by 10% to the higher education sector in Australia which is essential if we are to have internationally competitive universities.

“The Greens are proud to support and be supported by the NTEU at this election and our polling shows a majority of voters support us both on this issue as well,” Senator Whish-Wilson concluded.
Australian Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson