Alan Tudge (Aston, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Kingston is interjecting over here, and it is difficult to hear with her interjections. Let me just go through it. If any university were going to increase their fees, you would think that it would be the Group of Eight universities—the so-called 'sandstone' universities. If anyone were going to increase their fees, you would think it would be them.

So let's have a look at that. The University of Western Australia, as you know, says:

Based on current legislation before the Federal Senate, UWA proposes to set an annual fee of $16,000 for domestic full-time students enrolled in its five undergraduate degree courses.

…   …   …

UWA is offering future students the opportunity to obtain a three-year undergraduate degree from one of the world's top 100 universities for less than $50,000.

Again, I still cannot find the $100,000 number.

I will go on. I will table here the Group of Eight universities. Again, they have their indicative fees for all of the Group of Eight universities—that includes the University of Adelaide—and again it gets nowhere near the $100,000 degree which Labor shamelessly prosecutes day in and day out everywhere they go. And they have been doing this for such a long time. That is an absolute disgrace.

Why does the Labor Party do this? Why does the Labor Party peddle these falsehoods day in, day out? Is it because they are just blind to hearing this information? Have they not read this information which I have been talking about today? It is all in the public domain. Do they not believe these statements from the university vice-chancellors themselves? Do they not believe these statements? What is it? We know what it is. It is just pure and unadulterated politics. It is the politics of fear the Labor Party is spreading which is having the effect of killing the aspirations and the hopes of so many people across the community. They should absolutely be ashamed of themselves, as Vicki Thomson outlined perfectly.

You know, the Labor Party used to be a reformist party. In the Hawke and Keating era, they were a reformist party. They introduced the HECS system. And we supported the introduction of the HECS system because it opened up so many more opportunities. And do you know what our package would do? It would do the same. It would open up 80,000 new opportunities for people, particularly at the associate degree level. It would open up so many more opportunities because we would be offering the biggest scholarship program in Australian history. That is what this package would do, and that is what the Labor Party are blocking. The Labor Party are peddling falsehoods and they should be ashamed of themselves. They are blocking opportunities for the Australian people.

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