Senator Kim Carr

NATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE, CANBERRA

THURSDAY, 12 MARCH 2015

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Good morning, and thank you for inviting me to speak to your national conference.

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

When I spoke at your conference last year, I said that it was a pivotal moment for universities.

The Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No. 5) Bill 2014, as Senator Conroy has so eloquently pointed out, has some measures in it that Labor is able to support, but we oppose two schedules and seek their deletion. I would like to concentrate on the first of these matters.

The passage of this bill in its current form would further degrade the R&D Tax Incentive, which is one of the most important mechanisms available in the taxation system to foster innovation.

The incentive has already been undermined by the passage of the Tax Laws Amendment (Research and Development) Bill 2013, which restricts its operations to outlays of up to $100 million.

MELBOURNE CONVENTION AND EXHIBITION CENTRE

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Good morning, I am pleased to see my former Parliamentary and Cabinet colleague, the Hon Martin Ferguson, AM, and the Chairman of Infrastructure Australia, the Hon Mark Birrell.

Why do almost two-thirds of Australians reject the Government’s changes to universities?

Because the proposals are fundamentally unfair.

The injustices of the package have generated an enormous public response, because they go to the heart of what sort of country we want to be.

Responses to Senate Resolutions

Tabling

SPEECH

Wednesday, 24 September 2014

Senator KIM CARR (Victoria) (18:38): I seek leave to take note of the document from Mr Macfarlane in regard to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.

Leave granted.

Senator KIM CARR: I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

BRISBANE
18 SEPTEMBER 2014 

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Acknowledgements

I am grateful to the DASSH board for inviting me to speak to you at this time of crisis in higher education in Australia.

I wish to begin by declaring my belief that all who care about maintaining the quality of our universities, and who care about ensuring equitable access to them, should unite in opposing the higher-education changes announced in the Abbott Government’s budget.

I do not accept the narrative peddled in certain quarters that some combination of cuts to public funding, deregulation of fees and increasing the student contribution to the cost of degrees is both desirable and inevitable.

DOLTONE HOUSE, SYDNEY

11 SEPTEMBER 2014

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Sometimes the news of the day carries warnings about the future that are too quickly drowned out by the pressing issues of the moment.

Recently there have been two such warnings.

One has been a sharp fall in the price of iron ore. Iron ore exports have driven Australia’s growth for most of the past decade and helped us forge a closer relationship with China.

The other warning was the release of an international report card, the Global Innovation Index, which showed that, despite improvement, Australia still lags behind leading OECD countries as an innovative environment.

ACPET HIGHER EDUCATION SYMPOSIUM

MARRIOTT HOTEL, SYDNEY

22 May 2014

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Thank you for the invitation to speak to you once again, at a pivotal moment for the future of higher education in Australia.

I am grateful to ACPET’s national chair, Martin Cass, and the council’s board of directors for giving me this opportunity.

This is not the era of benign neglect that the Prime Minister foreshadowed last year.

This Government's plans, if realised, would represent a seismic shift in the way this country functions.