Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

I'm sorry to disappoint the member for Berowra and the member for Wentworth, two individuals in this chamber that I hold in very high regard. I thank you for your thoughtful contributions in this debate. The national tertiary education objectives in the bill were recommended, as the shadow minister pointed out, by the Universities Accord Panel. It's actually recommendation 1 of the accord—to set a clear vision for the tertiary education system. It's an objective for the whole system and the role that it must play to support Australia's resilience, fairness and prosperity. The changes proposed in this amendment appear to set an objective for the ATEC itself rather than for the system, and the government is not in a position to support this amendment.

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