Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

Why wouldn't they front up? Because they did not want to hear the concerns of the students at the University of Tasmania about these changes

Everybody on that panel heard the concerns of the Tasmanian students and everybody on that panel undertook to not support these higher education changes—because we know that they are bad for Tasmania. We know that they are bad for the University of Tasmania. We know that they will be bad for unemployment in Tasmania and we know that they will be bad for the Tasmanian economy.

These changes are bad across the board. We have heard from so many people that these changes are bad. Australians are against these measures. Have any of the members opposite actually talked to people in their electorates? Do they know how unpopular these changes are? Have they actually spoken to the mums, the dads, the aunts, the uncles and the grandparents about their aspirations for their children and how frightened they are about these changes? Have they actually done that? Did they do that during the parliamentary break? Did they talk to anybody in their electorates? From the way they have come in here and spoken on this bill, I would think not.

If they have actually talked to people, clearly they have not been listening because they could not then come in here and say the things that we have heard from the members opposite. They could not possible come in here and say that there is widespread support for these reforms—when we know there is not. They could not possibly come in here and say that these reforms are not going to lead to higher fees—because they will. They could not possibly come in here and talk about these reforms and how good they are, knowing that students will have higher debts. I do not understand how so many of them are willing to stand up and defend this appalling piece of legislation. I absolutely cannot understand how they are doing it.

Australians are absolutely against the measures in this bill that I have spoken about. They are against cutting public funding to undergraduate courses. They are against $100,000 degrees for their family members. They are against these things because they understand the value of an education. They understand that education should be available to everyone and that, no matter their means, no matter where they come from and no matter whether they live in an island state, they deserve the opportunity of a university education if that is their choice. I proudly stand and say that I and Labor will be opposing the measures in this legislation.

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