Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It must have been a very quiet day in the Labor ranks when they were looking for a topic for today. We have gone back to the 2013 debate of funding universities and $100,000 degrees. Let's hope that this does not become a sleeping tablet for the Australian people as they hear Labor talking points rolled out all over again. What a passionless contribution first of all from the shadow minister. Did she not just read that with zero enthusiasm for the tertiary education sector? Let's peel that away and ask what she was talking about.

The member for Griffith talked about $4 billion in cuts when in fact education funding goes up every year. Why do we not from this side just commend the Labor Party and its government for improving funding when they were in government, just as we have when we have been in government? We have actually had generous funding increases from both sides of politics. The problem is you cannot tell your union members that and you cannot tell your student unions that. Let us also acknowledge that you, on the Labor side of politics, have made very good efforts to have more demand driven approaches because there were limitations with the original design of university places. There was this notion that if the Commonwealth was not going to fund your place, you could not go to university no matter what. So well done to the Labor Party and its administration for changing that. But of course they then unlocked VET FEE-HELP and HECS into these huge problems that we now have to clean-up. Labor are a little like the rogue tenant, who, when you turn up to put out the house fire, starts attacking fire and rescue services for trying to clean up the mess that they created. Here we are just trying to clean up border problems, VET FEE-HELP, HECS and we are doing our very best.

Let's remember that today was a very important moment not just for HECS but an important moment for TAFE and VET FEE-HELP as well because today is the last day that the diploma of styling will be funded under the Labor Party model. Today is the last day that the diploma of circus arts will be funded under the Labor VET FEE model. Today is the last day that the diploma for expressive arts and group work will be funded under the Labor VET FEE-HELP model and today is the last day that the diploma of dance therapy will be funded under Labor's model.

Ms Ryan interjecting—

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