Senator FARUQI (New South Wales) (17:10): I seek leave to make a short statement. The PRESIDENT: Leave is granted for one minute. Senator FARUQI: Universities are cutting courses and slashing jobs. The combined blows of COVID-19 and funding cuts are devastating. We should prioritise and expand education in languages and cultures, especially those in the Asia-Pacific, and reject these harsh, nonsensical cuts to language programs. In its submission to the job-ready graduates bill inquiry, the Languages and Cultures Network for Australian Universities said: Successful language study involves the acquisition of both linguistic skills and cultural knowledge … the new funding system poses the risk of enforcing a language/culture divide. Some of the blame for these cuts must be attributed to short-sighted university management, certainly, but we should not let the government off the hook. Humanities programs were squarely the target of the so-called job-ready graduates measures. These cuts are a result of this government's juvenile hatred for humanities, and this country will suffer as a result. The PRESIDENT: The question is that motion No. 930 be agreed to.