The Official opening of Murdoch University - Rockingham Campus

Sunday, 5 April 1998

Address delivered by: His Excellency Major General Michael Jeffery, AC MC Governor of

Official attendees: Hon Fred Chaney - Chancellor Prof Steven Schwartz - Vice Chancellor Hon Colin Barnett, MLA - Representing the Hon Premier Sir Charles Court and Lady Court Mr Mark McGowan - Representing the Leader of the Opposition The Hon Simon O'Brien, MLC - Member for South Metropolitan Region The Hon Barbara Scott, MLC - Member for South Metropolitan Region The Hon Jim Scott, MLC - Member for South Metropolitan Region Mr Norm Marlborough, MLA - Member for Peel Mr Bill Thomas, MLA - Member for Cockburn Cr Chris Elliott - His Worship the Mayor of the City of Rockingham Cr John Slinger - Mayor of the Town of Kwinana

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a privilege to be here with you this morning on what is a very significant moment in the history of Murdoch University.

Given the changing demography of major cities in Australia's states, the former federal government modified its capital funding policies for universities in the early 1990s to favour the development and/or expansion of campuses in regional and outer metropolitan areas.

Federal funding for new campuses was based on a number of criteria of which three were particularly significant. These were:

● high projected or actual population growth in the region; ● low regional tertiary participation rates; and ● a willingness by the university to work more closely with the TAFE sector.

The first two of these criteria clearly applied to the south west metropolitan corridor of .

Rockingham is the second fastest growing local government area in Western Australia, with a current annual population increase of approximately 7% - which is just over 4,000 people a year. Rockingham is the ninth fastest growing urban locality in Australia.

1

State population forecasts indicate that the combined populations of Kwinana, Rockingham and Mandurah will increase from a 1996 level of approximately 100,000 to more than 400,000 by the year 2020.

It is against this background that the community and Murdoch University sought funding for this campus in 1993, and which I am delighted to open formally today.

In our technological society, higher levels of education and training are increasingly required to meet the skill needs of the modern workforce. Indeed, the Hon. , when unveiling the master plan for the campus in April 1994, noted that by the year 2000 as much as 80% of the jobs in Australia would require an educational background to at least the completion of year 12 at high school.

Through this campus, as it evolves, Murdoch University and the south metropolitan college of TAFE will be able to provide many of the educational opportunities required by school leavers in the region - as well as catering for adults seeking to upgrade previous qualifications or skills. This meets the third criteria stated earlier.

For many people, especially those with limited transport and personal incomes, there has been no opportunity in the past to avail themselves of a university education. This campus will do much to enhance their access and provide an opportunity to attend university. For others, of all ages and backgrounds, the new community library will provide an important focal point and resource for those not seeking a formal educational relationship with the university or TAFE.

As might be expected of a young and vigorous university such as Murdoch, there has been a very strong emphasis on positive community interactions throughout the campus' development, and this will continue into the future. The Vice Chancellor has already spoken of the relationship between the city, TAFE and university in designing and funding the new library, but it is only one of many initiatives that have been taken.

In 1996, the University's very successful law school sought federal funds, on a dollar-for- dollar basis, to establish in Rockingham, the southern corridor advocacy and legal education service (SCALES). Further support for this venture was provided by the law society, WA legal firms, the city of Rockingham which provided the office accommodation, the lotteries commission which provided a grant to assist in the project's development, and Esprit Autos of Rockingham which has generously provided "SCALES" with a vehicle.

"SCALES" provides free legal advice and some advocacy to the community. It is staffed by full-time legal practitioners who supervise work experience practicums for final year law students so that they have a practical understanding of community legal work before they graduate. "SCALES" is one of only three such university services in Australia, and the only one in this state. It has proved such a successful venture that further offices are to open in Kwinana in the near future. It is this sort of initiative which will play its part in enhancing the reputation of the legal profession as a caring and community minded profession.

The campus is expected to provide also a psychological service, involving qualified counsellors supervising final year clinical psychology masters students. It will commence limited operations from the campus in 1999 as a small venture, but nevertheless one that 2

represents an important and badly needed service to the southern corridor community. The service will be an expansion of the psychology training clinic that has operated from the Murdoch campus for some years.

I note with great pleasure also that within the high school sector, the University has established a number of encouragement programs and alternative entry pathways for senior students, and a number of the senior staff of the Rockingham campus contributes to community and industry committees in both Rockingham and Kwinana. I observed at the recent Joy 98 Youth Festival on the Perth Esplanade, the linkage of UWA with the science class of a metropolitan senior high school to encourage young people to take on scientific studies and perhaps this indicates a most desirable trend where universities will become much more closely involved with pre-tertiary level students and schools.

Recently the University has begun to work with the city and others towards the development of a federally funded community on-line internet service. If successful, this will be established in the new library and will represent yet another resource for the public. Again I have noticed similar schemes in some country schools. What such schemes do besides providing a community service, is in bringing citizens into the school or campus, it educates those citizens as to what is going on at the school or the campus which I think is a very good thing.

In addition to its formal motto, Rockingham also uses an informal logo - a city for the people - to describe its philosophy. I believe that this campus is already well down the track of becoming a campus for and of the community, and congratulate the Vice Chancellor and all involved with its establishment for their innovative thinking in bringing such a greatly needed educational facility to the Rockingham area.

I would like to make one final point.

Universities, and to a degree our TAFES, are the custodians of our civilisation and its civilised values at a time when Australian society is in somewhat of a conundrum. On the one hand people know and probably appreciate that we have a good country in which to live; the rule of law; a true democracy; clean air; plentiful food; a wonderful language and by and large, equality of rights and opportunities. We have huge agricultural, mining, tourism, educational and services industries with tremendous export potential.

On the other hand, there is a mood of considerable uncertainty within the country and to a degree some disillusionment within it, brought about by high unemployment, the speed and extent of technological change, family dysfunction, and uncertainty about who and what we are, and where we fit into a rapidly changing Pacific-rim and Indian Ocean littoral.

It seems to me that in this time of considerable social and economic upheaval, universities have a huge responsibility to provide appropriate philosophies, that the community and governments can then develop into lasting, well thought through, and widely accepted solutions to major problem areas.

It will be sad in my view if a university sees as its only responsibility as a purely competitive agency in the business of educating young people for their future careers. Whilst education for work is of course very important, it is equally important to provide a pool of motivated 3

intellectual thinkers or philosophers, whose primary occupation should be to develop concepts or lines of thought on how this nation is to tackle the challenges and environment of the 21st century.

We need learned men and women who can help define the nation's role in our Asian and global community; of how to genuinely tackle the critical problems brought about by having 1,000,000 people out of work for over 10 years; of the social consequences of family dysfunction, crime, youth suicide and chronic substance abuse in our community, and how these issues should be addressed.

Are we losing our spiritual and ethical base and if so, why, and what should be done about it? What is it that the nation needs to re-inspire confidence, hope, and a sense of social justice? What are going to be the consequences of proposed constitutional change? What sort of changes are desirable be it on the questions of head of State, and how appointed or elected, Federal/State relationships, including taxation and funding allocation formulae and so on.

How do we genuinely come to grips with a fair go for all aboriginal Australians?

Where is technology going to take us? Do we control it or is it going to control us, if we don't think clearly about its proper development and use?

Where does the media fit into the social equation these days? Whilst much of what the media does is laudable is it desirable to see every day on the morning bill board, headlines that deal exclusively with violence, recession, corruption, scandal and social divisiveness? What impact does a continuous diet of bad news have on the national morale and psyche, and particularly on the attitudes of young people? I would suggest plenty and ask what will the universities and the media together do about this very important question?

Concurrently with your student educational responsibilities, I would hope Murdoch University's Rockingham campus will lead a renaissance in thinking about some of these vital questions.

I conclude by reiterating, what a great pleasure it is to see this wonderful educational facility come to fruition. I congratulate all those responsible for its development, and it is now my great pleasure to officially open the Murdoch University Rockingham campus.

Thank you.

4