Federal Minister For Higher Education, Craig Emerson: stop the proposed cuts to UQ St Lucia campus
My name is Mark Starkey. I am a worker in the Faculty of Science at UQ St Lucia campus and, like most Australians, I recognise the importance of having a smarter Queensland and a smarter Australia – which means:
• trained professionals to do the jobs of tomorrow
• research and development to keep us competitive in a global market
• and a liberally-educated community that questions, challenges, innovates and seeks balance in our lives.
This, however, is now at risk with this government’s proposed cut of $2.3billion from our higher education sector.
The Federal Government argues that it is simply slowing the growth of funding to the sector, but the sector was chronically under-funded for many years under the Coalition and so is trying to recover from a low base. Australia ranks a miserable 27th of 29 OECD countries for how much the Government invests in higher education per student. Any cut means a cut to courses, staff, campus services or research activity. That’s cutting off your nose despite your face!
I am urging our Federal Minister for Higher Education, Craig Emerson, to aim higher for education.
Join me and thousands of others who have already shown their disproval and send a message to our government to value our tertiary education sector. Start by telling them to aim higher for education by signing this petition.