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

She went on to say:

With budgets under pressure, governments faced with a myriad of competing priorities for public funding, and successive governments being disinclined to invest at the level that repeated independent reports have shown to be needed, full deregulation of higher education is needed.

She said:

Either the status quo of ongoing inadequate investment, or further cuts without deregulation will condemn Australia's great university system to inevitable decline, threaten our international reputation and make it increasingly difficult for universities to meet the quality expectations of our students.

Her chairman Sandra Harding, the vice-chancellor of James Cook University, in her press conference today asked the Senate to pass the higher education reforms. She said, 'The status quo is not tenable, it is not sustainable' and she said, 'If it'—the legislation—'doesn't pass, that is the status quo.' So these are high stakes for our higher education sector. The opposition should stop playing politics.

Mr Perrett interjecting—

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