Page 3876 - Week 09 - Thursday, 25 August 2011

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video

concerned that Mr Doszpot’s terms of reference focused on the financial implication without any explicit reference, for instance, to the impact on educational outcomes. I would have thought it was quite a key priority here to be looking at the educational outcomes.

We have got a report here that has been forward by Professor Bradley, who is an expert in this area. This is the person who has been the architect of the new tertiary landscape across Australia. I think it was a very good report in that this was somebody who came with a very in-depth understanding of what the future environment is going to be like and was able to bring that into this particular review and the report that was presented. We cannot afford to be behind the game. We do need to be in the game.

I note that the minister has just said that a number of state and territory colleagues have signed up to this. That includes Liberal governments as well. This is a fast-changing landscape. We do need to be prepared. We do need to be ready. But of course we need to do that in a considered way. We need to make sure that it is right for the ACT. We need to make sure it is right for our students, that there are going to be good educational outcomes. We need to make sure it is going to be right for the teaching staff, the admin staff and so forth in these institutions. I understand that there are many who are quite excited about the opportunities that the establishment of a new institution could open up. We need to be prepared for a contestable environment. We do not want to see the demise in that environment of one or both of these institutions.

At this point, I move the amendment that has been circulated in my name:

Omit all words after “notes that”, substitute:

“(a) Professor Denise Bradley has recently presented a report to the ACT Minister for Education and Training on Options for future collaboration of the Canberra Institute of Technology and the University of Canberra;

(b) the report recommended the University of Canberra (UC) and Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) merge to create a new dual sector tertiary institution;

(d) the Government has committed to responding to the Bradley Report;

(2) calls on the Government to report to the Assembly on the progress of the proposed Bradley reforms; and

(3) refers, on introduction to the Assembly, any proposed legislation for the merger of UC and CIT to the Standing Committee on Education, Training and Youth Affairs for inquiry and report.”.

I believe that my amendment will improve Mr Doszpot’s motion. It ensures that there will be scrutiny and involvement from the Assembly but that it will be done at an

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video