Brett Mason (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Education and School Curriculum Standards) Share this | Hansard source

The coalition is committed to the principle of the continuation of indexation of university funding and certainly supports the Higher Education Support Amendment (Indexation) Bill 2010. This bill contains a technical amendment to the Higher Education Support Act 2003 to specify revised indexation arrangements which have arisen following the Bradley review of higher education. Professor Bradley’s committee recommended that the government maintain the future value of increased base funding for higher education by an indexation formula that is based on 90 per cent of the labour price index (professional) plus the consumer price index with weightings of 75 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively.

Education is the fundamental, essential and enduring building block of opportunity for young Australians and of prosperity and cohesion for Australia’s future. The coalition values the important dual role that universities play in our society, both as engines of economic growth, through educating our workforce and producing quality research, and by preserving and growing the shared values and culture that connect us with the past and unite us in the present. Quality education and research are crucial to our nation’s and our people’s success in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world. As such, universities need greater freedom and flexibility to respond to changing circumstances and to ensure that Australia is able to meet emerging challenges. The coalition recognises that this new index does better reflect the impact of inflation on the higher education sector and will better support our universities into the future. I commend this bill to the Senate.