Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science) Share this | Hansard source

You are not fixing it. You know about the reports in today's newspaper about the exploitation, the abuse, the standover tactics and the extraordinary criminal activity of these people, which you have done nothing about but rub your hands in glee and say, 'It's all down to the market.' What a joy it is that the rip-off merchants can get their way under this government. What we have here is a government that is committed to allow the rip-off merchants to take people out, take advantage and load their greed and avarice on the taxpayer. This is a government committed to the development of these types of rorts and the shocking abuse of students.

What has happened? The consequence of this is the fundamental undermining of our education system by a government that sits on its hands, allows a world-class education system to be undermined by the $100,000 degree program and allows the shonks and the rorters free rein. It allows the shonks and the rorters to roam free. That is what is going on here. The desperate rhetoric of those opposite will not change the simple fact that you have let them get away with it. You have had two years to fix it and you have done nothing. What you are trying to do is to run these very simple games, which everyone can see through. You are attempting to wind up our support for this measure so that you can get through your lousy policy of imposing $100,000 degrees and 20 per cent cuts on students and universities, undermining the quality of Australian education because of your negligence to do anything about it.

If the government were serious about science, research, innovation and high-quality education, they would have taken steps rather than trying to impose these neo-liberal strategies, which are built upon false assumptions about the way in which the market works. The government have constantly bungled this program and will be given an opportunity to continue to do it, even it means they will change the personnel but not the policy.

My colleagues and I say to senators in this chamber: the bill before us today, a small measure, is an opportunity to fix a problem we all know exists. Unlike this government, we are in the business of getting things done, not just making the situation worse, which is the catchcry of this government. Changing the personnel will not change the policies. This is a government that is committed to maintaining unfairness and injustice and making the situation so much worse. We urge the Senate to support these measures.