Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to take note today and debate the fairly disappointing answers given by Senator Abetz to questions by Senator Carr. Senator Abetz's answers were evasive and certainly failed to address the substance of this issue. They were pretty disappointing and typical of the cavalier attitude that the Abbott government has to this place, Labor, the crossbench senators and the Australian people.

It is common knowledge that only through education will Australia be fully developed to our economic potential, our scientific potential and, in fact, our people's potential. So why is the Prime Minister and Minister Pyne continuing to try to cut money from higher education? Why are they trying to destroy the higher education system? Labor will vote against cuts to university funding and student support. We will vote against them and we will not support a system of higher fees, bigger student debt, reduced access and greater inequality. We will never, ever agree that education should only be available if you have the capacity to pay.

Since the budget, we have seen that it is not only Labor that opposes the government's unfair and short-sighted higher education package; Australians overall oppose them. They oppose cuts of up to 37 per cent to public funding for undergraduate courses. We hear from the other side that university fees are not going to rise, but we know that that is not true. If you look around the world, there are examples—like in the UK—where university fees have risen substantially for people. Those on the other side need to take full account of what is happening in other places.

Lots of us have children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and young people we know. We want to see them have the same opportunities that we have been able to have. Maybe some of us have not had that opportunity, but we still want to see that opportunity for the next generation to pursue their education at Australia's best universities without facing crippling debt. It is pretty amazing that today Minister Pyne had to make another embarrassing backflip. It is pretty hard for anybody to keep track of where the government is at in regard to higher education.