Independents make day for rural universities

The Australia 25/08/2010 Wednesday P21

Notes:
*Regional universities in a position: benefit from the hung parliament
*haggling between parties, independents may lead to initiatives to support regional campuses
*Professor Simon Marginson: discount for regional students might come on to pork-barreling
*Chairman Peter Coaldrake: warned against the temptation to set up unviable regional campuses
*Coalition’s election policy focus on rural provision: a $1 billion regional education fund also support for regional school education
*Coalition relax work criteria for Youth Allowance: slash funding for Labor’s payments

Summary:
Regional universities are in a position to benefit from the hung parliament. The haggling between the parties and independents may lead to initiative to support regional campuses and participation. Universities of Melbourne higher education professor Simon Marginson speculated that discount on HECS and scholarship for regional students might come on to pork-barreling. But the Universities Australia chairman Peter Coaldrake warned against the temptation to set up unviable regional campuses. The Coalition’s election policy focused on rural provision. It proposed creating a $1 billion regional education fund included supporting for regional school education. In addition, the Coalition’s proposal to relax the work criteria for Youth Allowance will slash funding for Labor’s incentive payments to enroll more students from poor backgrounds.


Personal Reflections:
The hung parliament will definitely be a great benefit to the regional universities. It is also obvious that this kind of ‘competition” between the parties and the independents may result in some problems. As the Universities Australia chairman Peter Coaldrake stated that setting up regional campuses could be temptation, besides, as we all know, things are easy to promise but difficult to put into practice, nobody will know what could happen in the future. But I am sure one thing, that is Labor’s plan of incentive payments to enroll more students from poor backgrounds will be definitely harmed by Coalition’s proposals. I don’t think it is a good idea, because many students will leave school for lack of money. I don’t agree with the point that the main parties seek to win the independents by pork-barreling.