Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you for the call, Madam Speaker. I appreciate it. My question is to the Minister for Education. Will the minister update the House on the support within the higher education sector for the government's reforms? What measures exist to ensure continuing access to higher education for all Australians?

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

I thank the member for McMillan for his question. And I am very pleased to follow the excellent answer of the Minister for the Environment to his first question from the shadow minister. The member for McMillan makes a very good point and he asks me to outline to the House the level of support that we have received from the higher education sector for our reform bill which will be before the Senate next week when it sits.

Perhaps I might just quote from some of the very important organisations in the higher education sector that have indicated very strong support for higher education reform. Universities Australia, the peak body for universities—which, quite frankly, do not usually speak with one voice—on this matter, which some have regarded as controversial, have said:

The peak body representing Australia’s universities calls on the Parliament to support the deregulation of Australian universities …

The Regional Universities Network, or RUN, says:

… RUN considers that the only way the sector can maintain quality and remain internationally competitive is through the deregulation of student fees.

The Innovative Research Universities say:

The IRU urges the Senate to pass the Bill with the necessary amendments by the end of 2014.

The Australian Technology Network of Universities, the ATN, says:

Deregulation is a threshold issue for the sector and its passage through the Senate is crucial to protect the international reputation for quality higher education, representing around $15 Billion in export earnings for Australia.

Group of Eight Australia say:

These historic reforms reconcile access and quality, and make growth affordable.

The Group of Eight (Go8) unanimously supports the core elements of the Government’s proposed reforms to higher education policy …

All of the higher-education sector peak organisations, representing the entire cross-section of 39 public universities, support the government's reform move in the Senate and ask the Senate to pass this bill, admittedly in a slightly amended form. But they want a reform that will allow more opportunity for Australians to go to university through Commonwealth scholarships and through the continuation of the Higher Education Contribution Scheme by expanding the Commonwealth Grant Scheme to non-university higher-education providers by extending the demand-driven system to associate degrees and diplomas. All of these measures will give more Australians the opportunity to go to university and will give our universities the chance to compete internationally with the best in the world, producing the best higher-education sector in the world and some of the highest-quality universities in the world. I urge the Senate, when it comes before it, to pass this important economic reform to transform the higher education sector.