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

I am delighted to get a question from the member for Moore about the government's higher education reforms, because I can tell the House that the government is very proud of the higher education reforms we passed through the House of Representatives and that we want to see passed through the Senate.

They will do to dramatic things for universities. Firstly, they will spread the opportunity to get a higher education qualification to 80,000 more young Australians, with all the private benefit that that will bring in higher income, low unemployment, longer life expectancy, better health outcomes and higher incomes. Secondly, these reforms will free universities to be able to compete internationally and to raise the revenue they need to continue to be amongst the best universities and the best university system in the world.

These reforms are vital in bringing able to bring about those two incomes. All we are asking students to do for all the benefits that they receive is to pay 50 per cent of the cost of their education. They are currently paying 40 per cent. We are asking them to pay 50 per cent and we are asking the taxpayers to continue to pay half the cost for those university students to gain those extraordinary benefits. Under our very fair system, students can borrow every single dollar of that up-front and pay it back at the lowest interest rates they will ever get for a loan in their lives. They do not have to start paying it back until they earn over $50,000 a year.

The Labor Party's response to this has been twofold. Knowing all the problems that universities have had in the last 10 years, their response was to cut university spending by $6.6 billion. They have gone very quiet!

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