Page 343 - Week 03 - Thursday, 1 June 1989
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those institutions and most particularly I have in mind, when I say that, the extensions to the school of engineering at the Canberra College of Advanced Education.
Those particular funding questions are ones which have been placed very firmly by the Federal Minister in connection with the amalgamation issues. The Minister has made it very clear that in his view institutions with less than 8,000 effective full-time student units will be liable to have a lesser funding allocation than institutions with more than that amount.
I have put forward arguments already as to why that is not a valid criterion, that small universities and institutions can achieve just as much as large ones. Nonetheless that is an issue which has been put there by the Federal Government and which must be addressed.
The point is, Mr Speaker, that no body, particularly not the Federal Government, has yet carefully analysed whether individual amalgamations make sense. That is the issue, and I believe it is incumbent on us to present in a clearly argued and demonstrated way that in the ACT there is no case for amalgamation of our tertiary institutions. I am not prejudging the result of such an inquiry by the committee that I propose be set up. I merely say that if the evidence is clearly examined I believe it will go in that direction but I, like the other members of that proposed committee, I am sure, will be open-minded on the question of whether it is the case.
I hope that the ACT Government will consider the results of this inquiry, assess the report open-mindedly in respect of the positions that any party took on the amalgamation during the election campaign, accept the results and, should it be the result of that inquiry that the amalgamation not go ahead, it will put before the Federal Government a strong argument against the amalgamation and it will also argue that funding should not be cut as a consequence of that failure to amalgamate. I hope that the ammunition will be there and that the Government will use that ammunition judiciously to ensure that it occurs. Mr Speaker, I commend the motion to the Assembly.
DR KINLOCH (11.19): Mr Speaker, I heartily endorse the remarks so excellently made by Mr Humphries, the proposer of this motion. First, I need to declare an interest: over five decades, beginning in 1946-47, I have been involved with universities in the United Kingdom, North America - that is, Canada and the United States of America - South-East Asia and Australia and New Zealand; also I have been involved with other tertiary institutions, including colleges of advanced education and theological colleges. I have a much better understanding, however, of universities than of other kinds of tertiary colleges.
In declaring an interest, in the past I and the Residents Rally have made clear a point of view about amalgamation.
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