Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Hansard source

The approach that the government takes is that there should be voluntary arrangements entered into in regard to the national protocols. The current provisions require, in division 60, that the minister would be subject to legal sanction themselves if they sought to breach the law. So, when you say it is at the discretion of the minister, there are quite defined procedures that the minister must follow. Your proposal is a mandatory 7.5 per cent reduction in the base grant, quite arbitrarily, if a minister chooses to take the view that there has been a breach. This government is saying that universities are run by professional people and there is a proper process by which engagement occurs between departments of the Commonwealth and those administrations. There is ample opportunity through the existing legislation, both in terms of the teaching and the research program, to ensure that proper procedures are followed. If a university is in breach, in the minister’s view, of any funding agreement then there are procedures for moneys to be repaid. But the minister themself must follow those procedures to secure those repayments. What you are suggesting—and what there was under the previous government’s arrangements—is a mandatory application of a 7.5 per cent reduction.