Australian Greens Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has said that the government’s ‘JobTrainer’ scheme is heavy on spin and hugely hypocritical for a government that has overseen the marketisation and disintegration of public vocational education.

Senator Faruqi said:

“This is a government that has systematically gutted public TAFE over many years.

“We have seen the failures of government-subsidised, for-profit vocational education. We should not be going down the same path.

Australian Greens Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has labelled today’s news of cuts to approximately 500 full-time equivalent jobs at UNSW, and the amalgamation of nine faculties into six, as devastating and infuriating.

Senator Faruqi said:

“Hundreds of hard-working UNSW staff will bear the disastrous consequences of the Liberals’ callous abandonment of higher education.

“The Morrison government has no shame or sense. Australian universities are in crisis and frankly it’s the Liberals who are squarely to blame.

The Greens have said that returning to expensive fee-paying childcare today will harm families, disproportionately impact women and threaten the viability of early learning as the Covid-19 pandemic continues.

The federal government should extend free childcare and ensure all early childhood education and care workers are eligible for JobKeeper payments.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Australian Greens spokesperson for Education, said:

“It’s downright cruel and shortsighted to scrap free childcare before practically every other Covid-19 support measure.

As Melbourne goes back into stage 3 lockdowns, the Federal government is pulling the major childcare supports which played a positive role in the initial outbreak response. 

Dan Tehan’s announcement of a new semi-subsidy will risk the viability of many centres who will neither be able to return to normal operations, nor collect full income if parents keep their kids at home.

“The Government is tying itself up in knots. It would be far simpler and fairer to extend free childcare after 12 July,” Greens Leader, Adam Bandt said.

Australian Greens spokesperson for Education, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, has said analysis released today shows once again that federal and state governments have monumentally failed to adequately fund public schools.

Data published in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age has shown that, over the last decade, public funding has continued to flow heavily to private schools.

Senator Faruqi said:

“Well-funded public education should be the backbone of our education system, but public schools are getting a raw deal.

"Degrees should cost students zero dollars," Greens spokesperson for Education, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, said this morning in response to the "government's pathetic uni fee hikes".

“Arts graduate Minister Tehan's jobs rhetoric is empty. He's part of a Government that would rather throw a tantrum at humanities students and slam them with higher fees than do the hard work of creating jobs across the economy.

Our amendment on sheet 8975 is very similar to the government amendment which has just passed, and it was one that Dr Helen Haines introduced in the other place. I seek leave to withdraw that amendment.

Leave granted.

The PRESIDENT: The question now is that the amendment on sheet 8977 revised, circulated by the Australian Greens, be agreed to.

Australian Greens' circulated amendment—

(1) Clause 9, page 6 (after line 16), after subclause (3), insert:

Requirement for vocational education and training representative

I rise on behalf of the Greens to speak to the National Skills Commissioner Bill 2020. The bill before us today implements one of the key recommendations of the Joyce review, which is to set up a skills commission at the core of the skills system. The Joyce review examined Australia's vocational education and training system to strengthen skills and reported in March 2019. The National Skills Commissioner Bill 2020 establishes a new statutory office to be known as the National Skills Commission, which is to be headed by the National Skills Commissioner.

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) Australian universities are facing massive losses in revenue as a result of falling enrolments during the COVID-19 crisis, and

(ii) universities across the country have begun to announce job cuts, with up to 30,000 jobs expected to be lost;

(b) calls on vice-chancellors to prioritise retaining staff, including those on casual and fixed-term contracts, in their responses to revenue losses, and

(c) calls on the government to include all universities in the JobKeeper scheme.

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

   (i) the government has decided to scrap free childcare and begin forcing parents to pay expensive childcare fees again from next month,

   (ii) this move will force many parents to reduce their work days or remove their children from care,

   (iii) childcare is an essential service which should be universally available for everyone, and

   (iv) the move away from free childcare will disproportionately impact women;