Sophie Mirabella (Indi, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education, Childcare, Women and Youth) Share this | Hansard source

On indulgence: I am compelled to speak on the Higher Education Legislation Amendment (Student Services and Amenities) Bill 2009, because it is a broken promise. We had the former shadow minister for education just five months before the last election say in black and white that he was not considering a compulsory HECS style arrangement, that he was not contemplating a compulsory amenities fee. But what did we see in February 2008, just a few months after the Labor Party were elected to government? The Labor Party did what we knew they were always going to do: they set up a so-called ‘review’—a pretext to reintroduce compulsory student unionism by the backdoor. They wanted to say to tertiary students: ‘Do you know what? You’re adults. We think you’re smart enough to vote but you’re not good enough, you’re not smart enough, to decide which organisations to join and how to spend your money.’ Students know that, particularly those 130,000 external students who have no choice and very little opportunity to use the so-called services on campus. This is an attempt to breathe life back into unrepresentative, unaccountable student organisations.

We on this side of the House have nothing against any club or any association. If you think you are good enough and worthy enough of membership, make the argument for people to join you. Do not expect automatic membership and some sort of free ride. The government say that this bill is about freedom—the freedom of young adults to decide how to use their money—and that it is about accountability. We on this side of the House will continue to oppose these nefarious measures to bring back compulsory student unionism that uses compulsorily acquired funds to operate and to pay for the activities that they cannot convince the students are worthwhile. This legislation gives students no choice. It is a disgrace; it is a broken promise. We will continue to oppose these measures.

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