The National Union of Students will fight back against the Myefo package announced by the Liberal Government today. The package includes $2.1Bil worth of cuts to the higher education sector, along with cuts to welfare and student income support payments.
“Right now, Australia needs an ambitious vision for the higher education sector as automation and artificial intelligence drastically change the way we live and work,” said NUS President, Sophie Johnston “Investing in higher education means redying the next generation for these changes, particularly in a country that boasts freedom of opportunity and a fair go for all.”
Amongst the announcement was the gutting of the demand driven funding model, which opened up tertiary opportunities for countless young people when it was introduced in 2010.
“The next generation of young people will be entering into multiple careers, they’ll be creating jobs that don’t yet exist and they’ll need to be upskilled multiple times throughout their lives,” said Johnston, “This means Australia will need a dynamic, well funded and high quality education system. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to align with Scott Morrison and the Liberal Governments tendency to put education at the bottom of the barrel.”
“When is this government going to learn that when you go after working class people, when you attack young people’s futures; Australians are going to be angry and that’s not a great spot for the government to be in, particularly with an election likely to come up in the next 12 months.” continued Johnston.
Sophie Johnston. National President | National Union of Students
