Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

I do congratulate Minister Tehan on the reforms he's proposing—reforms that will see, for example, students who choose to study teaching, nursing, clinical psychology, English or languages paying some 40 per cent less for their degrees in terms of the contribution that they make. I would have thought Senator Faruqi might welcome that. I would have thought there might be some acknowledgement of that. Students who study architecture or maths will pay around 60 per cent less in terms of the student contribution for their degree. Students who study science, health, architecture, environmental science—environmental science, Senator Faruqi!—or IT or engineering will pay around 20 per cent less in terms of contribution before their degree. This is about making sure that we equip Australia and young Australians for the future with skills that will help them to get a job and our economy to grow and recover in the post-COVID era.