Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Albanese Labor government are channelling our inner Freddie Mercury; we want Aussies to break free from barriers to tertiary education. We're doing that by making Elizabeth the home of a brand-new suburban university study hub, making uni more accessible and more affordable by putting higher education on the doorstep of families in the north. This is a Labor government delivering life-changing opportunities where it matters most. We're not stopping there either, because my colleagues and I—all avid Queen fans, I'm sure—want Aussies to break free from disadvantage when it comes to accessing TAFE as well.

The opposition leader must be more of a Cher fan, because all he wants to do is turn back time. All he wants to do is find a way to put these barriers straight back up in front of Aussies and make disadvantaged people even more disadvantaged—because this opposition leader has just told half a million people who are transforming their lives through free TAFE that they should give up on their hopes and dreams, that they don't deserve access to education and that their future is a waste of money. This opposition leader is a disgrace. That man is a risk to opportunity in communities like mine. That man is a risk to the future that Aussies want to pursue, and, with my Labor colleagues, I will fight him every step of the way.