Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

In relation to a 12-month reprieve for the scientific community, I simply remind the minister that, under his charge, the Labor Party would have stopped funding as of the end of June 2015. There is not a single cent in the Labor Party forward estimates for the research and science sector in our community.

We are committed to that sector and that is why we said we would make money available, to the tune of $150 million, which has been roundly welcomed by that sector. What we have also said is that, given the discussion on higher education, we would decouple the two issues to provide that security, but also to seek to pursue the issue of university deregulation which is so vital for our children's future. (Time expired)