Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Of all the many failings of this government none are more profound than its handling of higher education, starting with a broken promise, going through to blackmail. What this really is about is a narrow vision of Australia's future and the abandoning of our future generations. This is a government which is either unwilling or, I think, incapable of facing up to the challenges of Australia's future. Its members are solely concerned with their own futures, none more so than the member for Sturt, Minister Pyne.

He is the Don Quixote of Australian politics, who continues to tilt away at his ideological windmill. But it is worse than that because, in the end, Don Quixote reluctantly swayed towards sanity. Anyone who watched that extraordinary interview on Sky TV yesterday would know that there is no danger of this minister coming to his senses. This nimble fixer is not troubled by sanity in how he approaches this debate or how he approaches Australia's future. When challenged on the central proposition he put out in that interview, he said, smugly and smirkingly: 'I want to make it a surprise for you.'

This is a minister out of touch with Australia. He is not listening to the Australian community, which has told him: 'We don't want your $100,000 degrees.' These broken promises and $100,000 degrees must be abandoned in favour of a vision of Australia's future— (Time expired)