As a student at the University of Tasmania, after reading the Griffith report*, I felt quite unsettled about our history and a positive vision for the future of the State. The review encapsulated the continuous battles that are far too common to this state but more importantly, to me, the need for Tasmania to have a vision, to be optimistic and make positive change for our future.
Not long after pondering on the Griffith Review the Labor and Liberal Coalition University Cuts were announced. As a person who has been immune to much of Tasmania’s complex political history I felt that our island’s positive future sank a little. The Labor and Liberal Coalition cuts propose to remove $2.3 billion from universities which will hit our island the hardest.
Tasmania is an economy in transition. From one that has been stuck in a cut-it-down, dig-it-up mindset, to an increasingly clean, green and clever economy that needs educated and adaptable people who can work in service based and technology based industries. If we are truly concerned about the future of our state, our jobs and our economy, then protecting our universities is not just a priority for our state is a necessity.
The numbers tell us that every public dollar invested in tertiary education grows the economy by twenty six dollars and tax revenues by eight dollars. With the funding cuts proposed to our universities we should be terrified. Time and time again we are told that most competitive economy of the future will be knowledge based, yet this is not a priority for all political parties. This is not just a question about future investment and growth of the Tasmanian economy but something that will hit us hard now.
It has been reported that we will lose up to 150 jobs for the University of Tasmania and face possible campus closures. This statistic is not just a concern for the current services and equity they provide but also for long term impacts on our state education resource and the direct impact for Tasmanian’s who will be without jobs. To state the obvious, the concern for jobs is high in Tasmania and this will mean that those skilled workers without employment may not be able to find employment and potentially forced to leave Tasmania, ultimately leaving our knowledge based positive future in limbo.
This issue is also one of equity, this is about the wellbeing and fairness of our society and this cut will hit those who cannot afford education. It will impact poor university students who current have to work long hours and who are saddled with huge debts the day they graduate in that overpriced expensive graduation gown. It will impact students on our island who live in regional areas, and it will impact the services to those who rely to attend and succeed at university.
I am currently the Tasmanian University Union Southern Campus President and this year I have worked with many services that assist students who struggle with the cost of living. Currently we have great services and they work to ensure that students can deal with tough circumstances, in saying this there are many people who do not seek help and of course the services could always be better.
Because we are a small rural and isolated university, comparatively, the University of Tasmania will be hit the hardest by the uni cuts as we do not have the capacity to provide students range of services those universities that have larger student populations can provide. These cuts will hurt students and make it even harder for students from regional areas and disadvantaged backgrounds to attend university in rural and isolated locations.
These uni cuts hurt, they do not just rob Australia’s future, but we are robbing Tasmania now. The Griffith report was a timely reflection of our past, our present and it ultimately asked us to look towards our future. Time and time again I am frustrated by those in decision making positions, and those who are elected to have the capacity to better our State. Yet those with the power to fund quality education, have failed us and have chosen to not provide us with the long term smart opportunities that we need to thrive, and for Tasmania to transition to a state that has a bright future.
My question is; how can we now look towards a future with our knowledge resource stimulating our island without the resources to equip us with the necessary capacity to do so?
*Read the Tasmanian edition of Griffith Review HERE:
Madeleine Charles is an Arts/ Law student at the University of Tasmania. She is currently the Southern Campus President for Tasmania University Union. She is qualified to have concern about Tasmania becoming Shitsville, as she has been there and back with Daily Telgraph jouranlist Joe Hildebrand in the ABC television show Shitsville Express.
