Kate Ellis (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Youth and Sport) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kingston for both her question and her passionate advocacy on behalf of both students and universities. I note that those opposite, almost on cue, jump to the ideologically extreme battles of the past when we, on this side, are talking about a new and balanced way forward to rebuild services and amenities at our universities. We do this because we on this side know—and have long argued—that it is all students who are paying the price of the extreme legislation of the previous government. It just so happens that we do have new evidence to back this up. It is not just the students who are paying an extra $800 a year in child care at UTS, or those who are paying an extra $200 a year at Monash University, or those students who can no longer access sport, catering and welfare services. It is, in fact, all students who are paying the price of the previous government’s approach, because it affects efforts to deliver quality teaching and research, to reduce class sizes and to attract overseas students—which we know are all critical to sustaining Australia’s workforce and our future productivity and economic growth as a nation. I was asked for new evidence—

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