Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Ryan for her question. I am pleased to be able to tell her and the House that the government's higher education reforms are expanding opportunity to more young Australians, up to 80,000 more, typically from low socioeconomic status backgrounds, and at the same time promoting excellence in our universities. Eighty thousand more young Australians will go on, on average, to earn 75 per cent more than those Australians who do not have a higher education qualification.

Our higher education reforms rebalance the contribution between taxpayers and students. Currently, taxpayers are funding 60 per cent of the cost of a student's higher education and the student is typically paying around 40 per cent. After our reforms are passed, the contribution will be about 50-50 between taxpayers and students. As we know that students will go on to earn 75 per cent more, on average, than those Australians who do not have a higher education qualification, that seems a very fair exchange between the taxpayer and the students.

It is important that there be consistency in approach in policy, not just in higher education but across government. For example, in higher education, the Leader of the Opposition says that he is in favour of the worker; he is in favour of expanding opportunity to students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds; but he said that he opposes the very reforms that will expand opportunity to many other Australians, particularly young once.

But the Leader of the Opposition does have a bit of form on this. He has a bit of form on inconsistency. Before 2007, Labor tried to convince the Australian public that they supported the Howard government's policies on border protection. Between 2008 and 2013, they allowed 50,000 unauthorised arrivals into Australia after dismantling those very same policies. Since the 2013 election, they have tried to take credit for stopping the boats. Initially they said it was their policies that stopped the boats. Now, today they want to tip their hat to the green left friends, the green left allies—

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