25/05/2018
Peter Khalil, the Federal Member for Wills, says around 1,536 more Wills locals will be on their way to uni thanks to Labor’s plan to abolish Malcolm Turnbull’s unfair cap on student places.
“Malcolm Turnbull put an effective cap on the number of student places when he cut $2.2 billion from unis last December,” Mr Khalil said.
“The limit on places means thousands of Australians will miss out on uni. Labor doesn’t think that’s fair, so we will abolish the cap.”
Modelling by the Mitchell Institute shows that almost 200,000 more Australians will benefit from Labor’s plan over 12 years.
“We believe that everyone with ability and dedication should get the chance to study at uni,” said Mr Khalil.
“Nine in ten jobs created in the coming years will need a uni or TAFE qualification. “
“Labor wants Australia to be country with a strong economy, and secure, decently paid jobs. That’s why, unlike the Liberals, we will make investment in education a top priority.“
“Malcolm Turnbull says he can’t find the money to properly fund unis. But he can find $80 billion to give away to big business and the banks. His priorities are all wrong,” he said.
Labor uncapped student places back in 2008, which by 2016 had seen an extra 1,608 Wills students get the opportunity of a uni education. Many of these students were the first in their family to attend uni.
Because Labor uncapped uni places, by 2016:
- the number of students from poorer backgrounds was up by 55 per cent;
- Indigenous student numbers had jumped by 89 per cent;
- enrolments by students with a disability had more than doubled; and
- enrolments by students from country areas had grown by 48 per cent.