Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Well, if he did not, he is one of the few on that side who have not. I will give him due credit for that!

Labor's $2,000 cap on the tax deductibility of self-education expenses was desperate and would have hurt many thousands of Australians. Labor left a complicated and unwieldy mess, with large increases in regulation, compliance, reporting and unnecessary red tape and regulatory duplication applying to universities. And it was not only in the university sector: there are plenty of other sectors in our community that I have spoken to that Labor did exactly the same thing to. I think it is something they are good at: red tape, regulation, tying people up and producing nothing productive. This meant universities spent an estimated $280 million per year just on compliance and reporting.

Labor's poor track record is evidenced by the two independent reviews of regulation and reporting that the previous Labor government failed to respond to, in 2013. Labor cut the Sustainable Research Excellence Scheme by nearly $500 million in the 2012 MYEFO. Labor made no provision beyond 2015 for the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy and the Future Fellows program for research talent. Labor was therefore happy to let Australia's research efforts fall off a funding cliff.

Under Labor, international education went backwards. Export income from international education fell by billions of dollars from its 2009-10 peak because of Labor's neglect, policy weaknesses and bungled handling of what is now Australia's third largest export and our number one knowledge export. The number of international student enrolments during that period fell by 130,000. This represents a decline in enrolments of 16 per cent. That is bad for our economy and for all those who work in education and support services such as travel and accommodation.

There are many prominent figures—past luminaries of the Labor party—who have noted the desirability of the opposition's actual participation in shaping the higher education reform proposals currently before the Senate. These include the honourable John Dawkins, former education minister and Treasurer; the honourable Maxine McKee; and Professor Peter Noonan, the former adviser to Mr Dawkins. Interestingly, one of their current members, the honourable Dr Leigh, has also noted the benefits of deregulation and shown that the claim it will hurt disadvantaged students is simply false.

I think that is a good synopsis of why we are in this situation. What is our solution to clean up Labor's mess and to help future students in our higher education sector? Firstly, we are looking to expand the demand-driven Commonwealth funding system for students studying for higher education diplomas, advanced diplomas and associate degrees—an investment of some $372 million over three years. We are extending Commonwealth funding to all Australian higher education students in non-university higher education institutions studying bachelor courses—an investment in our students, in the future leaders of our community, of nearly $500 million over three years. By 2018, over 80,000 students each year will be provided additional support. This includes an estimated 48,000 students in diploma, advanced diploma and associate degree courses, and some 35,000 additional students undertaking bachelor courses.

There will be more opportunities for students from low socio-economic status backgrounds through new Commonwealth Scholarships, the greatest scholarship scheme in Australia's history. This will effectively mean free education for the brightest students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. In addition to Commonwealth Scholarships, there will be a dedicated scholarship fund for universities with high proportions of low SES students. This will be funded directly by the Commonwealth, on top of university-based scholarships.

We will free universities to set their own fees and compete for students. This competition will enhance the quality of education, and make higher education providers more responsive to the needs of students and the labour market. By creating a situation in which universities and colleges compete, students win.

Domestic fees will be required to be lower than international student fees, less the Commonwealth subsidy. The government will also direct the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to monitor university fees.

As part of these changes, we will also strengthen the Higher Education Loan Program, which sees taxpayers support all students' tuition fees up-front, and ensures that students repay their loans only once they are earning an income of over $50,000 per annum. There is no change to the current arrangement whereby no-one needs to pay a cent up front—despite some of the comments from those opposite in their scare campaign.

We have also introduced an interest rate pause on debts for primary carers of children aged less than five years who are earning less than the minimum repayment threshold. We are removing all FEE-HELP and VET FEE-HELP loan fees, which are currently imposed on some students undertaking higher education and vocational education and training.

Importantly, we are starting to reinvest in our research sector, with $150 million in 2015-16 for the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy; $140 million to deliver 100 new four-year research positions per year under the Future Fellowships scheme; $26 million to accelerate research in dementia; $42 million to support new research into tropical disease; and $24 million to support the Antarctic Gateway Partnership.

In closing, I think it is safe to say that this package of reforms is clearly designed to create a foundation and a framework for the long-term sustainability and growth of our higher education sector. Our higher education reform package, I believe, is a fair and balanced package that aims to spread opportunities for students and ensures Australia is not left behind in the global competition, both in terms of skills and education.

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