Page 1487 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 6 April 2011
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Our society should support young people while they are undertaking their education. We should encourage them to explore their country interstate and we should encourage them to use public transport as an environmentally friendly alternative to private transport. ACT students often travel interstate to study or for personal reasons such as holidays.
I was pleased to be notified today by Robert Atcheson from the Council of International Students Australia that the council have pledged their support for this motion as we know that it is tertiary students that would be the greatest users of a national student concession card. That is also why the National Union of Students have come forward to support a national student concession card and the motion today, and their response has been quite loud. Overnight, the NUS have launched the “fair fares for students” campaign, and on their website they have welcomed our action on this welfare issue. They note that non-reciprocity has acted as a barrier for students, especially those who have to live far away from university campuses.
From today NUS will be collecting thousands of postcards and organising them to be sent to members of CDSMC, as well as presenting their petition at the meeting later in the year. Cross-campus collectives are being held across the country for both international and local students to look at the issue and how to effectively mobilise students in the lead-up to the CDSMC meeting, as well as to talk about state-specific transport issues and local campaigns.
I look forward to seeing the student community build support for the campaign for a national student concession card. A national student concession card will help students to move around freely while interstate and feel safer while doing so. There are over three-quarters of a million tertiary students in Australia, as well as two million primary students and 1½ million secondary students.
Since notice of this motion was given yesterday, NUS have asked all these students to act now to make sure students’ voices are heard, and I encourage all students to sign the online petition and to get involved in supporting this campaign. There is no better time, I believe, than this week, which is National Youth Week.
Finally, as Minister for Children and Young People I urge the Assembly to support this important matter of a national concession card for students and to support me in bringing it forward as an agenda item at a meeting of the Community and Disability Services Ministers Conference. I welcome Ms Hunter’s support and the Greens’ support and I have to just make note that there is not a member of the opposition in the chamber; therefore they have not been able to offer their support to the national student concession card.
MR HARGREAVES (Brindabella) (5.46), in reply: I thank Ms Hunter for her support and I take it by the absence of those opposite that Mrs Dunne’s brief expression of support is good enough for that collective. It is also a shame that the shadow minister for young people is not here in the chamber to lend his physical support as well as, I am sure, his support expressed through Mrs Dunne. He has popped in. Okay—nice to see you.
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