Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am happy to outline some of the perspectives that we are hoping to explore with the minister when she arrives. I do appreciate that it is six minutes earlier than anticipated but, with your indulgence, Mr Deputy Speaker, I will attempt to provide the context in which the questioning will occur. Obviously, the appropriations section of the budget on education is of particular significance and interest to those of us on this side of the House as, indeed, I am sure it is to all of us in this place. There will be a range of specific questioning, and the opposition will be interested in the more detailed information from the minister as we go through the procedure.

I would indicate that, across all of the funding sectors of education in the appropriations for this portfolio, there will be a range of particular issues of interest and concern to members on this side of the House. Clearly, the higher education sector and the two aspects of full fee courses and the Higher Education Endowment Fund, the way in which the monetary allocations have been made and how they will then be implemented are of particular interest to us.

There are obviously some real concerns for us about what has happened with the HECS increases within this appropriation and we are quite keen to explore some of the detail of that with the minister. The Higher Education Endowment Fund is indeed significant. It has long-lasting implications for the university sector. There are some specific and important questions that need to be addressed in terms of that fund, being one of the major announcements and indeed highlighted so significantly by the Treasurer in his budget speech. It outlines to us the need to get some further detail on what exactly that fund will be composed of, how it will be administered, what sort of ongoing funding it generates and how universities will be able to access that funding. It would be no surprise, I am sure, to the chamber that there is quite a range of funding detail in terms of the Higher Education Endowment Fund that we would like the opportunity to explore with the minister when she arrives.

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