George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Minister for the Arts and Sport) Share this | Hansard source

Well, I wanted to do justice to your questions, Senator. The respective commencement dates for the provisions are provided for by clause 2 of the bill. The various provisions of the bill, when enacted, will commence upon either royal assent or 1 January 2008, as specified in the table in clause 2. You may take it, though, Senator Stott Despoja, that for functional purposes these arrangements will commence, as I think I indicated in summing up the second reading debate, from the commencement of 2008.

You asked, Senator Stott Despoja, about where we are to find the conditions that the minister might impose. There are no government amendments to the bill circulated, and I understand that it is not proposed that there will be any statutory instrument. The regulations that I indicated in response to Senator Joyce’s question and in summing up the second reading debate will be contained in the provisions of the funding agreements with the various higher education providers. I point out to you that similar arrangements already apply for medical places and new places.

In relation to your questions directed to the capacity to challenge the minister’s determination to decline an application by a higher education provider, as I already indicated in my answer to Senator Joyce’s question, there will be an opportunity for the provider to raise concerns about any such proposed direction. That would be a provision of the funding agreements, as I understand it. Of course, the provisions of the ADJR Act also apply to any ministerial discretion exercised under the act or under funding agreements entered into pursuant to the provisions of the act.

Those answers, I hope, address the particular inquiries you made of me, Senator Stott Despoja. May I close by responding to what I thought was essentially a rhetorical question, when you said, ‘Does this represent a new form of intrusion into the autonomy of higher education?’ If I may say, with respect, Senator Stott Despoja, I am sure that it is perfectly clear to you that the whole point of this legislation is to give higher education providers greater autonomy and greater flexibility. As you well know as somebody who follows these debates very closely, as I know you do, the vice-chancellors have been asking for that for a very considerable period of time now. But it is not the purpose of the government in providing extra flexibility to higher education providers to give them carte blanche, and therefore there are these protections in the form of requirements of ministerial approval provided for. If I may, I will respond to your rhetorical question with a rhetorical question of my own: what on earth would you have said if there were not such safeguards?