Doorstop: SUBJECTS: Western Sydney University; Liberals' cuts to unis

ANDY MARKS: G'day, I am Andy Marks, Assistant Vice-Chancellor at Western Sydney University. It's fantastic to have Tanya and Emma out here at the Launch Pad, this facility was set up under the suburban jobs program by former Minister Tony Burke. It has been a raging success in bringing knowledge jobs to Western Sydney. This is one of three incubators across Western Sydney, and it is absolutely critical if this region is to engage in the digital transformation that we're seeing in the economy. It's proof that start-up activity is not confined to the CBDs, it happens in the burbs, in garages, in backlots, and Launch Pad is bringing it to life. Thank you.

 

EMMA HUSAR, MEMBER FOR LINDSAY: Thanks Andy for having us out here at the university today, and thank you to Tanya for coming out to see the fabulous work being done at Western Sydney University, which wasn't its name when I went here many years ago. Unfortunately, at this stage, Western Sydney University, or the University of Western Sydney, is facing a $98 million cut which will affect the 65% of the students who come here who are the first in their families to actually attend a university. 57% of those students are female and about 27% are from low socio-economic backgrounds. So, it's good to have Tanya out here to show her the fabulous work that's being done to prove that this university is an absolute asset to Western Sydney, and the work being done here at the Launch Pad and supported by the university is fundamental to our growing economy and a skills economy that we need to absolutely pursue in Western Sydney. Thanks, Tanya.

TANYA PLIBERSEK, DEPUTY LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Thank you, Emma and thanks to Andy and the team here at the Launch Pad. It is such a pleasure to be here at the University of Western Sydney and see the great work that's being done here at the Launch Pad, where students and academics are working on new business ideas that will generate jobs and prosperity in Western Sydney. It shows that innovation is alive and well in the suburbs of Western Sydney, and the jobs that come with it, can flow. And what really troubles me, as Emma has said, is that the University of Western Sydney is facing $98 million worth of budget cuts under Malcolm Turnbull's government. That's particularly serious for this university. It's actually the largest funding cut of any New South Wales university, and it's going to really hit this university hard. More than half of the students here are first in their family to attend university and that is a great opportunity for those individuals, but it's also so very important for economic development, here in Western Sydney. The jobs, the innovation, the prosperity that comes from investing in universities, investing in the education they bring, and the research and development that they drive. Right now, right across New South Wales, there are students finishing up their HSC, finalising their last exams, they don't know what it will cost to go to university next year if Malcolm Turnbull has his way. This government should immediately cut its plans to reduce university funding, they should give up on cutting uni funding now, and they should give students the certainty for next year that they deserve. Any questions?

 

JOURNALIST: Why is something like this important for Western Sydney in particular the Launch Pad Incubator?

 

PLIBERSEK: I think the Launch Pad Incubator is so important in Western Sydney because we don't want smart people, bright people, driven people having to leave Western Sydney to pursue their career opportunities elsewhere. We need jobs in Western Sydney, we need people to be able to live and work in local communities, we need high skilled, high-tech jobs in Western Sydney, and incubators like this allow innovators and entrepreneurs in local communities to really develop their ideas, to commercialise their ideas. We've seen some fantastic examples of that here today.

 

JOURNALIST: Are you proud, Emma, of what you’ve seen today of the ingenuity of the people of Western Sydney?

 

HUSAR: I have seen this incubator a number of times and every time I come here, I absolutely learn something new. The last time I visited, I was able to see the Bachelor of Entrepreneurialism; I think that's how it's said - entrepreneurship. I always learn something when I come here, but what I see is that there are local people on the ground here who can support knowledge jobs, we don't need to be a community of freight warehouses, and only an airport, and only the things that the government are offering. We have people on the ground here who have the skills and the ability to take their ideas forward into the global market.

 

JOURNALIST: Just a couple of questions on citizenship, what’s your response to Mitch Fifield acknowledging that he knew about Stephen Parry’s citizenship weeks ago?

 

PLIBERSEK: I think this really does take us to who knew what, when? Stephen Parry is someone I think that is very widely liked across the Parliament, and very widely respected. And it never made sense to me that Stephen Parry had just kept this to himself. I think the question now is for the Prime Minister and for the Attorney-General. It is not credible that the Attorney-General or the Prime Minister didn't know, or that their offices didn't know that there was some doubt about Stephen Parry's citizenship - I've always thought that it was not credible.

 

JOURNALIST: What’s your response to reports around Josh Frydenberg’s citizenship and that he might have Hungarian citizenship?

 

PLIBERSEK: I think we are actually getting into pretty disturbing territory now. I mean, these people, like many millions, fled the Holocaust and I really do think that we're going a bridge too far when we start to pursue people in these circumstances.

 

JOURNALIST: Does Labor believe that some sort of audit is now required?

 

PLIBERSEK: Look, we are yet to be convinced of an audit, we are still very confident that our vetting processes are strong, that they are unimpeachable. And there are so many unanswered questions about an audit: who would do it? The circumstances it would be done under, what kind of organisation would run an audit? But, like we've said all along, we've got nothing to hide. We are not worried about anything like that, so if there was a proposal from the government, we'd look at it.

 

JOURNALIST: So it’s a feasible possibility?

 

PLIBERSEK: Like I say, we are yet to be convinced, we do think that our processes are strong. I can tell you, having gone through them that they are very rigorous, and we are yet to be convinced that it would really provide a resolution to what we are facing at the moment. But we're not worried.

 

JOURNALIST: Is there anything that can provide some sort of resolution?

 

PLIBERSEK: Yes, people should follow the rules. I mean, the simple resolution here is that every individual candidate does the right thing, that every party checks that every candidate has done the right thing. What provides confidence, what provides a resolution is confidence that people have followed the rules. We are now in territory where we are talking about changing the rules, having audits; people have suggested a referendum to change the Constitution. Talking about how we change the rules to make it easier. Actually, the simple solution is people follow the rules. Thanks everyone.