Labor and the Greens appoint new HE spokeswomen

Foolery in the Liberal Party aside, the big political news for higher education is Louise Pratt is the new shadow assistant minister for universities and equality. According to Labor leader Bill Shorten, the WA senator is, “passionate about fair, affordable and accessible higher education,” which makes this an excellent appointment, because until now her parliamentary responsibilities have not given her any chance to engage with her passion. Her Senate service so far has not covered higher education.

Yesterday she “committed to continuing the fight against the Turnbull Government’s cuts to university funding, cuts which effectively cap university places and mean thousands of young people will miss out on the education they want and deserve. I will also be working to keep the pressure up on our universities to make our campuses and university accommodation safe.”

Previous assistant shadow Terri Butler moves to employment services, workforce participation and future of work.

The Greens also have a new higher education spokeswomen, new NSW senator Mehreen Faruqi, sworn in on Monday. She replaces Sarah Hanson-Young who tweeted yesterday, she “is stoked to take on the environment portfolio.”


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