Andrew Leigh

PYNE: STOP THE PAYBACK AND PAY WHAT YOU OWE

Joint media release with Shadow Minister for Tertiary Education Kim Carr

The Abbott Government is vindictively withholding funding from the University of Canberra, despite being required to pay it under a signed contract.

In mid-2013, the university signed an agreement with the Commonwealth to establish a ‘Centre for Quality Teaching and Learning’ at the University of Canberra.

The role of the centre was to help Australia place in the top five countries globally in reading, maths and science by 2025 through increasing teacher effectiveness.

In 2014 – nearly a year into the agreement – Education Minister Christopher Pyne cancelled the contract for the Centre. The Government has since refused to pay the $4.4 million that the University of Canberra says it is owed.

When it comes to infrastructure projects, the Abbott Government says that it is vital to ‘honour contracts’. So why won’t the government honour this Commonwealth contract?

Is it simply because the University of Canberra has consistently and courageously sounded the alarm about the impact of the Government’s plan to deregulate university fees?

Christopher Pyne needs to stop playing student politics with a great Australian university. If the government really believes in honouring contracts, it should do so in all cases – not simply when it suits their political cause.

The University of Canberra shouldn’t be millions of dollars out of pocket as a result of the Abbott Government’s pettiness.

THURSDAY, 13 AUGUST 2015

MEDIA CONTACTS: JENNIFER RAYNER (LEIGH) 0428 214 856