TRANSCRIPT: ABC SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND RADIO INTERVIEW ROMA COUNTRY UNIVERSITY CENTRE, 8 JUNE 2021
E&OE
Subjects: Country University Centres; Roma; tertiary education; housing.
BELINDA SANDERS
And the person that gets the honour of snipping the ribbon is someone that snips quite a lot of ribbons, I would expect, and that is the Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Good morning, Belinda. Normally, we’re cutting taxes; today we’re cutting ribbons!
BELINDA SANDERS
This is the cool part of your job, I bet.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, it is because it’s delivery. It’s actually seeing something that you have invested money into become a reality and that’s fantastic, but better than that, it’s not just the opening day, it’s what will follow for the students because all too often – and I come from a regional centre as well and all too often our best export is our young kids and what we want to do is give them a reason to stay, a reason to study at home, be able to stay on the farm, stay in town, stay with their parents if they so choose, get that education, and then perhaps even set up camp here and live and contribute to the communities in which they’ve grown up, rather than go off to the metropolitan city and never be seen again.
DAVID ILIFFE
Absolutely. Tell me, are there more planned? We now have 24 in all states and the Northern Territory. Will there be more of these?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, Bollon and Dirranbandi I understand are coming online and these Country University Centres are proving very popular. I know in my electorate in Riverina in southwest New South Wales we’ve opened them at Griffith and at Parkes more recently, and they’ve proven such a boon for those local communities. They’ve given youngsters a reason to stay in their own communities to – and not to have that big outlay of money, whether it’s for themselves, and juggle three jobs while they’re studying, or indeed have that impost on their mums and dads when they do go off to university. We know they’re at that age where they’re making life decision where they may potentially stay in their own communities and take up the jobs that are there and so on it’s a win–win all around.
BELINDA SANDERS
We’re speaking to Michael McCormack, the Deputy Prime Minister, here on ABC Southern Queensland about the regional university centre, one in particular, and the one we are broadcasting from the one in Roma. How are you – these are obviously federally funded. This is why you’re here, you know, to cut that ribbon, but how are you picking the locations? How is that –
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, councils contribute too. They are also big on community and I know that this has proven all the communities they have opened up in, Cooma, Goulburn, Broken Hill, Narrabri, Leeton, Wonthaggi in Victoria, they’ve all had council involvement, community involvement. There’s been even businesses that have contributed. They really are, as the name suggests, Country University Centres but communities as well and, you know, they’ve proven great. And the locations – the community have put their hands up and so Duncan Taylor and Douglas Martin who are running this CUC initiative, they apply to them, they show that they can sustain one in the community and they go from there.
DAVID ILIFFE
And what sort of factors have to be ticked off? Is it based on population as well?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
It’s population. It’s lack of a nearby university. It is a lack of that tertiary element within their communities or – you take, like, Griffith, 200 kilometres from Wagga, Wagga has, of course, got Charles Sturt University but for those students there they can actually do what they need to do in their – in Banna Avenue, in the main street of their hometown. They don’t have to drive that 200 kilometres. They don’t have to go to that major centre, that major regional hub, and live. They can live in their own communities. So, that lack of tertiary institution, a big enough community that they can sustain it and they can be viable going forward and a willingness by the community to make it work, make it happen.
BELINDA SANDERS
How much did this one cost and are you looking at outcomes in, say, three or six months’ time? Are they expected to deliver outcomes? This is the positive that the Roma facility gives taxpayers –
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Yeah, $1.3 million, over $74 million overall, but they just work. I know they work because for these country areas, their students all too often – just having a look at the stats here, during semester 1 and 2020, the CUC network supported 1,061 students from 38 different universities; 47 per cent are first in their family to study. That is a big stat. Seventy-six per cent female, 24 per cent male. Eight per cent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage. Fifty-seven per cent of students are aged over 25. So, they’re students who would either perhaps not have that opportunity, they’re students who want to stay at home. They might have had a career already and they’re getting back into some study to further enhance their potential for their careers, but that figure, around half being first in their family to study, is a big, big stat and but for the network, but for these Country University Centres, they perhaps wouldn’t have that tertiary education ability and potential to get that diploma, which is going to make such a difference to their lives and to their communities.
DAVID ILIFFE
I’m just curious before we move on to something else, this centre here is apparently unique in that it’s offering the facility for use by TAFE students as well if what they are studying is at a remote campus too far away. Is that a model that you would like to see others engage?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Absolutely. Absolutely, David. And for TAFE and tertiary to work in tandem with the communities, indeed even with some of, you know, the high schools is going to be making such a difference in years to come. We’re spending so much money on upskilling our young people at the moment through apprenticeships, through traineeships. We want our young people to be their best selves. There are 67,500 jobs in regional Australia at the moment just going begging. Those vacancies cannot be filled and we want people to be able to have those qualifications so that they can take up those good well‑paying jobs. It annoys me sometimes when you get on national media and they’ll just talk those potential jobs down as if they’re just only in orchards or boning rooms in abattoirs, and whilst those jobs are very good and very well paying, there’s also jobs in health, hospitality, education, all sorts of areas of endeavour at the moment in regional Australia that just aren’t and can’t be filled.
BELINDA SANDERS
One of the issues – it’s a bit of a side issue here, but one of the issues that does come up in terms of jobs, in terms of universities, in terms of keeping people in those regional and rural towns that you mentioned is housing. And, of course, there’s just not enough. Here in Roma, for example, to find a rental is extremely difficult. I know that some are saying that that’s the reason why or part of the reason why they might attract someone to fill a skilled position, but then they can’t find a place to live.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Sure I don’t want to be seen to be handballing this, but this is a state issue and we can’t take on everything that is the remit of state governments and pick up the tab for it, but we contributed mightily to this housing issue in the Federal Budget and, of course, we’ve had already had the HomeBuilder as part of the COVID response, so that is providing options too for people looking for their first home, looking to refurbish the home that they’re currently in. But we’ll work with states and continue to provide the assistance that we need to as the Commonwealth to address that issue.
BELINDA SANDERS
I know the Queensland Government has said, just off the top of my head, that there wasn’t enough money in the Budget for Queensland to attack housing.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Queensland government would always say that but the money that we’ve poured into the regions in particular in infrastructure was a record in the May Budget, a record in the October Budget last year. We are making sure that the regions realise their potential with the investments that we’re making in infrastructure. Goodness gracious; we’re spending $110 billion on infrastructure right across the nation and more than a third of that is going to regional areas. Now, Queensland has done very nicely out of the Budget and will continue to do so because it’s one of the economic powerhouses of Australia.
DAVID ILIFFE
If you’ve just joined us, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack is our guest. We’re broadcasting from Roma this morning, from the Country Universities Centre, which is about to be officially opened by the Deputy Prime Minister. Mr McCormack, the quarantine facility in Victoria has obviously been given the go-ahead, but is there a need for one in each state? Will Queensland get another chance to house such a facility here?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
If the Queensland Government brings a proposal that meets the criteria we’ll certainly have a serious look at it. I was only speaking with the Prime Minister about this very issue just yesterday in Sydney, and so long as we get those good sound proposals which meet the criteria – so close to a tertiary hospital, close to an airport with international flights, making sure that you’ve got the health services nearby that can sustain a quarantine centre. We can’t just plonk them in remote Australia as some have suggested and expect them to work because, you know, people who are going into them potentially may have COVID. They may have other ailments that come to the surface, come to the fore, when they take up residence there, and we have to have those communities be able to have the sort of medical facilities and services that are going to be able to cope with such an issue.
BELINDA SANDERS
What do you mean by tertiary hospital?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Tertiary hospital with training, with the right number of people and services that are there that have that training element, because – and, you know, so therefore it needs to be close to a capital city.
DAVID ILIFFE
Many would say and it’s certainly been said that the Toowoomba proposal put forward by the Wagner family ticked all those boxes. It certainly had proximity to an international airport right next door in terms of an airport that can take international flights, if necessary; an hour and a half from a capital city, which is certainly pretty close proximity; close to Toowoomba itself with hospital facilities, three separate hospital facilities, and yet it was rejected.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
It needs to have community approval too, but also we’re not going to take on board and build these quarantine facilities and then run them. State governments have to play their part too. The Victorian Government came to us with a very, very good and sound proposal, very much in the final stages of looking at what they put forward. We’ll look at any proposal, but it has to meet the criteria.
BELINDA SANDERS
Are there any other proposals on the table for Queensland? No?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Not at the moment, but again we’ll look at anything that the Queensland Government potentially brings forward. Maybe they could look at something perhaps in the north, maybe at Cairns, maybe closer to home in Brisbane, but again, that will be up to the Queensland Government to bring forward that proposal and we’ll seriously look at that when it arises.
BELINDA SANDERS
I get the impression – just correct me if I’m wrong, but when you’re talking about Cairns, when you talk about Brisbane, when you’re talking about international flights, you’re talking about regular flights that are coming in, not chartered ones?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Indeed. Regular flights.
BELINDA SANDERS
Not chartered; if it was Toowoomba, they would have to be diverted, if you know what I mean?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Yeah, so it would be regular flights that have those regular international routes.
BELINDA SANDERS
Then there’s that argument then that in a capital city they’re in the middle of a population, so if they’re flying into Brisbane or Cairns or wherever that has a passenger international airport, they still have to be driven somewhere and there’s the argument they can’t –
MICHAEL McCORMACK
They do under very strict quarantining travel arrangements. There are a lot of factors with this and that is why the proposal regarding Avalon stacked up because, you know, it does stack up because you don’t – it ticks a lot of the boxes, but we’ll work through that with Victoria, we’ll work through it with Queensland if they bring a better proposal or another proposal forward or indeed any other state and territory that does it, likewise.
DAVID ILIFFE
Well, Michael McCormack, we appreciate you taking the time for a chat this morning.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Thank you, Dave. Thank you, Belinda.
BELINDA SANDERS
Thank you very much for coming.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Big announcement for Roma.
BELINDA SANDERS
Any exclusives you want to give us while you’re here? Secrets?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
I do. Think positive and test negative and get your jab. I got my AstraZeneca yesterday.
BELINDA SANDERS
I don’t think that’s a secret!
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, for some it is. We really do need them to break out of their complacency. Don’t be hesitant. When you’re eligible to do so, go and get that – roll your sleeve up and go and get your jab.
BELINDA SANDERS
So, you got yours yesterday?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
I did.
BELINDA SANDERS
Very good. Everyone in this room has got one.
DAVID ILIFFE
Indeed.
BELINDA SANDERS
Maybe not one. A little bit young.
DAVID ILIFFE
That’s right, yes, yes.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
His turn will come.
DAVID ILIFFE
Deputy Prime Minister, thank you so much.