Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I really do reject the premise of the argument that Senator Simms is putting, in terms of suggesting that the government is mounting some deregulation agenda that is saddling students with ever more debt. What the government wants to do is ensure that we have funding mechanisms that are sustainable for our universities, that we have funding mechanisms that do encourage excellence within those universities and that we have systems in place to support equity of access for all students. That is why we remain committed to ensuring that students do not face upfront fees going into university and that they do have what is the world's most generous program in terms of student loans and the way in which those loans repaid. Students around Australia and their families should be confident that in the future—