BUDGET LEAVES UTAS FUTURE UNCERTAIN

Federal Labor Senators have today reiterated calls for certainty regarding UTAS’s future in Tasmania after the Federal Budget offered no certainty to the Newnham and Cradle Coast campuses.

Tasmanian Senator Helen Polley said that the Abbott Government should be condemned for not detailing their plan for the future of UTAS in the 2015-16 Federal Budget.

“The Abbott Government’s university cuts and plans to deregulate the sector is threatening the future of campuses in Tasmania, and the continued lack of information concerning higher education and the future of UTAS is truly disturbing,” Senator Polley said.

Senator Urquhart called on Andrew Nikolic, Brett Whiteley and Eric Hutchinson to come clean about UTAS’s future and the government’s plan for higher education in Tasmania.

“The Tasmanian community deserves much better than mere silence from the Federal Government. The Federal Liberals have promised much but they consistently do not deliver,” Senator Urquhart said.

“Tasmanian students want certainty and this Abbott Government is unable to tell them anything. There are students in year 11 and 12 that don’t know whether they are going to be able to study at the Newnham and Cradle Coast campuses,” Senator Polley said.

The Abbott Government cut funding from higher education in the 2014-15 Budget and UTAS is still set to lose $120 million over four years from 2016.

“Tasmanian’s need to know what is happening with the future of higher education in Tasmania. Yes, we know that the Government wants to deregulate the sector and charge students $100,000 for degrees, but we still don’t know whether UTAS’s future presence is secure in the North and North West of the State. This is a question the Abbott Government must answer”, Senator Polley said.
SENATOR HELEN POLLEY SENATOR ANNE URQUHART LABOR SENATORS FOR TASMANIA