Anne Ruston SA, Liberal Party
2:34 pm
My question is to the Minister for Human Services, Senator Payne, representing the Minister for Education. Can the minister provide the Senate with any facts about the level of higher education fees under the government's proposed higher education reforms?
Marise Payne NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services
I thank Senator Ruston for her continuing interest in this area of policy. The first thing I want to say and the single most important factor in this area is that under the Higher Education Loan Program no student needs to pay a cent up front and no-one needs to start repaying anything until they are earning over $50,000 a year. So the point is that higher education in Australia is and remains affordable and accessible for all.
But we have seen over recent months a quite irresponsible scare campaign, with sweeping claims that all students are facing extortionate fees. That scare campaign, which has come from some in this chamber—from those opposite, from members of the Greens, from the completely unrepresentative NTEU, the National Tertiary Education Union—unfortunately for them—
Kim Carr Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science
Name them! Come on, name them.
Stephen Conroy Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
Name him!
Marise Payne NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services
The facts are going to get in the way of their good story—
Senator Kim Carr interjecting—
Marise Payne NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services
Let's start with the University of Western Australia, one of Australia's four universities in the top 100 in the Shanghai Jiao Tong rankings. They have announced that their charge will be $16,000 a year for their undergraduate courses.
Kim Carr Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science
Up by nearly 300 per cent. Why don't you get that bit in?
Marise Payne NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services
I would like to use the words of UWA—those opposite are not interested in hearing the facts—
Kim Carr Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science
A 300 per cent increase. Not bad if you can get it.
Marise Payne NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services
'The University of Western Australia is offering future students the possibility to obtain a three-year undergraduate degree from one of the world's top 100 universities for under $50,000.'
Senator Kim Carr interjecting—
Marise Payne NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services
Mr President, perhaps it is disappointing for those opposite. Perhaps they really want to persecute Australian students. So they are disappointed that their scare campaign is not coming true. But in fact it is significantly less, in fact less than half, of the scare campaign they tried to run. (Time expired)
Kim Carr Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science
What does a law degree cost?
Mathias Cormann WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance
It depends how much you earn.
Stephen Conroy Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
If you will just name him, he will stop interjecting.
Senator Cormann interjecting—
Doug Cameron NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services
Get the Havana cigar out.
Stephen Parry President
Senator Cameron and Senator Cormann, you can go to the lobby and discuss this.
Stephen Conroy Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
We will support that if it is a joint expulsion.
Marise Payne NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services
I think Matthias has had better offers than that.
Doug Cameron NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services
I have never been able to afford a Havana cigar.
Stephen Parry President
Order! Let's get back to question time, senators.
Anne Ruston SA, Liberal Party
2:37 pm
Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister inform the Senate of any other developments which disprove the scare campaign about students' fees?
Marise Payne NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services
2:38 pm
I also want to add to the observations I made earlier the announcement last week by La Trobe University, which indicated to students entering through their Aspire Program in 2015 that their fees will not increase more than 10 per cent above the regulated student contribution for each year of their degree. That will not make the level of the scare campaign of those opposite either.
The groups that represent universities have issued a number of public statements and they have issued modelling showing that universities can be relied upon to act responsibly in their setting of fees.
Stephen Conroy Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
I can see pigs flying around the chamber!
Marise Payne NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services
Apparently assurances from the Australian Technology Network, the Innovative Research Universities, the Group of Eight and the Regional Universities Network are worth nothing to those opposite. They mock them, they scorn and they run their scare campaign. But the truth is that the universities that have given fee guarantees to mid-year 2014 students include Deakin, Victoria, Griffith, Murdoch, UWS, Edith Cowan, Flinders University— (Time expired)
Anne Ruston SA, Liberal Party
2:39 pm
Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Can the minister apprise the Senate of the implications of these and other developments to the debate on higher education reforms?
Marise Payne NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services
I think the announcements from UWA, from La Trobe, from COPHE as well—their members and others—show that the scare campaign that those opposite have been trying to run about extortionately high-cost degrees is a complete myth. It has been blown out of the water by the facts that the universities are now presenting.
It was, as always when serious analysis is done, a scare campaign based on false assumptions. But serious commentators who gave serious consideration to the issues were much more measured. It would be an absolute travesty for students in this country if higher education reforms which, quite frankly, are essential for the future of the tertiary industry in this country, are adversely affected by false claims—by alarmist claims, frankly—that end up being completely false.
This morning, in a very considered piece in the Australian Financial Review, Belinda Robinson wrote, as the CEO of Universities Australia, 'There is a consensus of Australian universities calling on the Senate to support the government's higher education—' (Time expired)