Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Education.

Ms Plibersek interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Sydney is warned.

Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How will the government's higher education reforms spread the opportunity for Australians to gain a higher education qualification, and how does this compare with other approaches?

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

I thank the member for Higgins for her question. I can tell her that because Labor, in government, did nothing about higher education in six years except cut $2.9 billion from the sector, Labor allowed our universities to be overtaken by our competitors, particularly in Asia.

This government has set on its course, a decision to reform universities to give our higher education sector the opportunity to compete—to give them the freedom they need to have 80,000 more young Australians getting a higher education qualification, and also allowing the universities to set their own course into the future to achieve the excellence that they desire, and compete, particularly with our Asian competitors.

Labor's approach was to cut without reform. Our approach is to reform higher education because it is a $15 billion export industry for this country. The difference between the coalition and the Labor Party is in the matter of trust. We trust students to make intelligent choices when presented with the opportunity to do so. And we also trust universities to know what is in their best interests and to respond to those best interests.

I notice that the Leader of the Opposition starts to look a bit uncomfortable when I talk about trust, because he knows what day it is today. A lot of people might have forgotten what day it is today, but I am happy to remind the Leader of the Opposition. I think he knows that it is the first anniversary of the Rudd counter-coup.

The Leader of the Opposition gets a bit sweaty in the palms when someone starts talking about trust, particularly on a day like today, because in the first coup he was a modern-day Tiberius on a telephone down at the Hong Hau. He was like Fu Manchu, sending instructions to the AWU members of the caucus, wanting everyone to see how much power he had. For the Rudd counter-coup he was cowering in his office hoping that nobody would find out that he was going to rat on the leader. Unfortunately, they found out, and I can say that everyone knows that this Leader of the Opposition—Back-stabber Bill, as he became known—cannot be trusted. His colleagues know it, the public know it—

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on a point of order. How could this possibly be relevant to the matter before the House, which is higher education. This is not—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member will resume his seat. The minister has completed his answer.