Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

I refer the opposition in the House to the poll published in the Daily Telegraph today showing a majority of Australians, especially students, support reform of the higher education sector. I would refer those opposite to the editorial in the Fairfax press today, in the Financial Review, and I will quote from it. It says:

Gough Whitlam's vision of free university education was affordable when only about five per cent of the population was going to university, but with the proportion now close to 40%, changes being put to parliament by the government are essential to maintain a high quality university system open to all Australians. The key to maintaining both quality and opportunity is of course to allow the market to better reflect student choice, helped by scholarships for the disadvantaged.

That is exactly what the government is proposing to the Senate in our higher education reforms—quality universities with scholarships for the disadvantaged; expanding opportunity for the biggest Commonwealth scholarships fund in Australia's history that they describe as 'crumbs'. They want to reject that. If the reforms are not passed, the Commonwealth scholarships will not go ahead.

If the reforms are not passed, 80,000 extra young Australians will not go to university because of the Labor Party. Fifteen hundred technical and support staff will lose their jobs in research infrastructure across Australia because of Labor. Fifty thousand higher education students will face 20 and 25 per cent loan fees if these reforms do not go ahead. No Australian Research Council Future Fellowships will be awarded, because they are part of these reforms. There will be insufficient support for research at places like the University of Tasmania's Antarctic Gateway program or tropical health at James Cook University. This is what Labor is turning its back on for cheap political opportunism. The cheapjack political opportunists of the other side are wanting to deny that to students and universities. (Time expired)

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