Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Carol Brown is now interjecting, saying that this is just ridiculous. Senator Brown clearly does not understand what it is like to be forced to pay for something you do not support, to be forced to pay for something you do not access. If you are a financially struggling student, it is arrogant, it is offensive, it is completely inappropriate for a government like this one to force you to pay for something you do not value, you do not support and you will not access. Why should you? If those services are so important, if those services are going to be valued, one of two things can happen. Either they are such important public services that they will be provided by government—and many people in the community and indeed students can and will access those services through Centrelink, Legal Aid and various other government services that are available. If services provided to students on campus are not attractive enough, if they are not responding to a genuine need, then maybe they should not be provided. If they are attractive enough, if they are responding to a genuine need, then students will pay for them when they access the service.

It has been quite interesting listening to this debate. Senator Bilyk was saying that somehow we do not care about students because coffee on some campuses in Tasmania now costs $6. Some other senator said that drinks at the bar are now more expensive and food is no longer subsidised and is more expensive. The logical implication of your argument is that you want all the students who are not going to buy coffee at the student union, who are not going to go to the bar at the student union or who are not going to eat food at the student union to pay for it for those that will. The only way you can make it cheaper by having a compulsory levy is if you are working on the explicit assumption that there will be a whole bunch of students who are not going to go and buy a coffee or a drink or some food at this particular student-union-run coffee shop. That is the only way you can make it cheaper for those who will.