LABOR WILL FIGHT THE LIBERALS’ CUTS TO UNIVERSITIES IN BATMAN

Labor supports La Trobe University, one of the largest employers in Melbourne’s northern suburbs and a proud feature of Batman. 

Labor will fight the Turnbull Government’s cuts to universities that will see La Trobe University lose $81 million of Commonwealth funding between 2018 and 2021.

Labor has always defended our universities.

We blocked the Liberals’ harsh university cuts in the 2014 Budget that would have seen the introduction of $100,000 degrees.

We blocked the Liberals’ harsh university cuts again in the 2016 Budget that would have seen universities lose $3.8 billion, and forced students to pay off more debt earlier for a lower quality education.

And again, just before last Christmas when the Liberals’ attempted to bring in a backdoor cut to kill off the demand-driven funding system - Labor declared its opposition.

These latest cuts will hit universities like La Trobe the hardest.

Labor analysis says that La Trobe would face a cut of $81 million between 2018 and 2021 - that's just unacceptable.

And it's not just universities - the Liberals have cut $2.75 billion from TAFE, skills and apprenticeships.

Instead of cutting universities and TAFE, we need to look to the future.

That’s why last month, Labor announced a once in a generation National Inquiry into Post-Secondary Education that will look at every aspect of the vocational and higher education systems, to ensure they can best respond to the needs of Australia’s economy and society.

Labor will continue to stand with universities and students to fight against Mr Turnbull’s cuts.

Only Labor can deliver the opportunity of a high quality post-secondary education system.