Debates Day 4 - Tuesday 30 October 2012
Parliamentary Record 1
Debates for 12th Assembly 2012 - 2016; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 12th Assembly 2012 - 2016
2012-10-30
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DEBATES Tuesday 30 October 2012 239 because there are slim pickings in this statement. It only mentions 20 students from Korea, which is good, and support for our project to build a university campus at the waterfront centre. It is good to see that the CLP supports that and will be contributing and working with Charles Darwin University around that campus. A university campus in the city centre is something Darwin lacks. I was going to the local university when, under the previous CLP government, the campus in town was closed and relocated to Casuarina. It is important that we have parts of the university campus in our city centre. Having university students in our city centre provides a sense of positivity. I have no problems with there being a campus at Casuarina and campuses at Palmerston and elsewhere, that is fantastic. I know Charles Darwin University has a process of putting campuses in places outside of Darwin altogether and it has campuses in other cities. But it is important to a have a campus in our city centre. It is something that has been lacking in Darwin for quite a long time. The energy you can get from students in our city centre is something that would make a positive contribution to Darwin beyond education. That has been touched upon in this statement and I am looking forward to the Education ministers contribution later about how else the CLP intends to invest in international education. How will it partner with our university? How will we grasp the economic opportunities coming to the Northern Territory over the next few years? They do not fall in your lap; they do not happen by accident. You have to work and plan for them and it takes the pressure of public service to do that. I know our Education department has close relationships with Charles Darwin University and I am making the assumption they will continue to have those close working relationships where government and university can partner to make sure we train our own and grow our own for the jobs coming over the next few years. We have to do that work to get those jobs. It is critical. When world-class projects come to town and Territorians do world-class work on those projects, suddenly they become a valuable entity in themselves. I have no doubt we will see - if we do the work right Territorians, both individuals and companies, starting to export their work and skills to other parts of the world based on the work they are doing on world-class projects in Darwin. That is one of the benefits of having something like INPEX come to town. As a Territorian or a Territory company you can do world-class work on a world-class project and suddenly you have skills that are exportable to other parts of the world. We will start seeing more Territorians on the world stage as a result of the work we will be doing on world-class projects like INPEX. That is critical and something you have to plan for. You must have good relationships with something that is captured in education. That is not in this statement but the Minister for Education will hopefully touch on some of those things, such as how we will be training and working with our Territory population to grasp those opportunities, not just from INPEX, but from the other hubs the CLP like to talk about and how we will be working with those sectors. It is not just the university, there are other education providers in the Northern Territory, but Charles Darwin University is the main player in the Territory. How will we be working with the university to deliver for our own and grow our own, and what will we offer to attract other people to be educated in the Territory? We have a good combination of location and quality of education that should appeal to people in our neighbouring countries. It is important that we work with the university by selling the educational opportunities we have in the Territory to our Asian neighbours and work with Charles Darwin University to value-add to that export industry. It already exists, but how can we grow it and keep working with Charles Darwin University around the Asian engagement strategy to ensure we attract those students to the Northern Territory - more than just the 20 mentioned in the Chief Ministers statement. I am sure the Minister for Education will talk about some of the overseas students who make up our mix in the Territory. We can also export our education opportunities to other states and territories. However, there is a challenge coming from Charles Darwin University which I am sure the CLP is aware of. We have to work closely with them around some of the deregulations happening in the university environment to ensure Charles Darwin can continue to compete. Now is the time when Charles Darwin needs support from government to ensure it can continue to grow, provide quality education, and meet the challenges that are happening in the Territory - growing challenges, growing opportunities. It will need help during the next few years as the university sector, nationally, grows through a process of deregulation to create competition. We should not be afraid of competition; we should use it as an opportunity, but that means we have to partner with the university. We have to work with it to ensure we use that challenge as an opportunity to elevate what Charles Darwin University can provide. There are some challenges for the new CLP government. I am interested in hearing what the