Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Nothing would surprise me. It is a strange world. In summary, the challenges of implementation, the policy direction, as I think we have made clear, is sound, because it is our policy which we have been suggesting. We do share the sector's concerns about the implementation of these changes, and, as I said, the minister's job in his future will rely on the successful implementation. It is an enormous task to get this bill, which has been rushed through, ready for implementation and transition for 1 January.

We could talk at length, ad nauseam, about the hypocritical nature that copying these reforms, these Labor ideas, represent—and everyone has noticed. But that is okay because imitation, as they say, is the highest form of flattery. It is not the point either, because, give the seriousness of the issues, Australia cannot afford this kind of partisan incompetence again. When things go wrong, whoever is in government, whoever you are, we need a government that listens to good ideas wherever they come from, even from across the chamber. That was what we were promised at 'alt government'. Given the scale of the mess, it is unbelievable. We really have no practical ideas as to why it took so long to fix. I hope it was not crude electoral politics, but it is hard to be sure. The reason I say this in closing is that I was contacted by a student in my electorate during the campaign who was worried because his private provider had told him that they had to vote Liberal because Labor was going to crack down on the sector. Who were they acting to protect while failing to act while dodgy providers got rich? Certainly not our students or national interest. (Time expired)

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