George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Gallagher, I am so pleased you keep asking me these questions about fairness, because I think most Australians would understand that it is fair that university students should not have to contribute even half of the cost of their degrees, and that there be a system—instituted, by the way, by a former Labor government, the Hawke Labor government—the HECS, whereby they get the most preferential low interest that they will ever see in their lives, with no obligation whatsoever to begin paying back that debt until they can afford to do so. As a result of the education they receive through that system, they will have a higher income and better life chances than all of the other taxpayers who are paying the majority of the cost of their education. (Time expired)