HIGHER EDUCATION SUPPORT BILL 2003: Consideration of Senate Message

4th Dec 03

Mr ORGAN (Cunningham) (3.05 p.m.) — There is no doubt that this is indeed a sad day in higher education in Australia. The students in Australia have been sold out—sold out by the government, sold out by the four Independent senators and sold out by the Australian Vice-Chancellors Committee, who claim to represent the universities. But in fact they do not represent the students; they do not represent their families; they do not represent the university staff and other groups in the sector.

The Greens cannot support the Higher Education Support Bill 2003 and amendments agreed to by the government and the Independent senators at approximately 1.15 p.m. today in the other place with a vote of 31 to 29. This bill was a turkey when it was first presented, and the turkey is still a turkey, no matter how much you dress it up or sex it up. Just as the US President was prepared to pose in front of a plastic turkey during his recent visit to the troops in Iraq, now we have the Minister for Education, Science and Training prepared to present us with a slightly more palatable, though still off, turkey of a bill.

Anyone who has listened to some of the impassioned speeches in the other place in the last few days by Greens, Democrats and opposition senators will know the import of this bill and why it is such a sad day for Australian students and their families. The government, and especially the minister, is in a state of denial. The minister comes into this place regularly talking all manner of figures but basically missing the target. The minister and the government are in a state of denial over the D-word—that is, debt. We are talking here about student debt. That goes to the core of the issue here. The government is really silent about debt. I do not think the minister used that word once during his speech a minute ago.

I heard the minister on the radio this morning talking about how any eligible Australian student can walk into any Australian university and not have to pay a cent in up-front fees. That is true; I did it back in 1975, and the minister did it as well. But the minister did not tell the Australian people this morning that those students—here and now—have to pay up front or go into debt. They have to pay more and more, and they have to pay some of the highest university fees in the world. The minister did not tell those listening to the ABC this morning that students and their families would be lumbered with debts ranging from $30,000 to over $100,000. He did not say that this debt burden is forcing more and more of them to drop out of university. He did not talk about the failure of the government to adequately support students via any substantial income support schemes. He did not say that the policies of this government are forcing more and more students, and their families, to decide that they just cannot afford to go to university. Why can't they? Because they are going to be lumbered with a debt, and at the end of the day having a university degree is no real guarantee of a well-paid job. Many Australians, especially if they come from the poorer sections of the community, do not like debt. It is clear that, as a result of the government's mistreatment of the university sector since it came to office in 1996, more and more young women, for example, are being forced to make a choice between university and a career: paying off a HECS debt or opting out and having a family.

Mr Ciobo —What rubbish!

Mr ORGAN —It's not rubbish at all.

The SPEAKER —Order! The member for Moncrieff! The member for Cunningham will address his remarks through the chair.

Mr ORGAN —It is no longer easy to do both, and this is a backward step. The minister fails to realise that university is not some sort of apprenticeship scheme; there are no guarantees here. People take a risk in deciding to go to university, in giving up paid employment for three or four or more years. Their friends and mates are off working and buying homes and having families, while they sit in lonely rooms and libraries studying and researching. So, despite what the minister would have us believe, there is no guaranteed job at the end of the day for our university graduates and no guaranteed six-figure income. Students know this and, as a result, this increasing debt burden is scaring them off. I was informed just this morning of a young girl from my electorate who has decided not to go to university because of this debt burden. Her sister was amazed and disheartened to hear that the Independent senators had caved in overnight.

I went to university in 1975, when it was free, thanks to Gough Whitlam and his government. It can be free again today, and it should be free. I understand the Tories in the UK are advocating the abolition of university fees—good on them.

Government members interjecting—

The SPEAKER —Order!

Government members interjecting—

Mr Edwards —Shut up and give him a fair go!

The SPEAKER —Order! The member for Cowan! The member for Cunningham has the call and the protection of the chair.

Mr ORGAN —A university education is a right, not a privilege, and we should be supporting students, not putting barriers in their way. I think we should forget about user pays in this instance, because it is not fair when we talk about it in the context of higher education. Debt does deter students from going to university, and the government and the minister refuse to admit this. The minister cannot fail to be aware of the debt burden facing Australian students. He merely has to talk to them, to go out and speak to them. If he truly listened to the students and their families, he would not be allowing the universities to increase fees by up to 25 per cent, he would not be putting a seven-year cap on their so-called study entitlement and he would not be starving the universities of real funds for infrastructure, staffing and course delivery. (Extension of time granted) The minister would not be forcing the universities down the privatisation path, down the path to elitism, and the government would be doing all it could to support equitable access to tertiary education in this country. This package is really about reducing the burden of debt on the government, not on students. It is about transferring more of the costs onto students and their families. It is also about further privatisation of the higher education sector. We cannot agree to that: the money should be going into the public sector, not being pocketed as the profits of private companies.

In summary, this is a very important issue. As Senator Stott Despoja pointed out in the other place, the industrial relations linkage is still there. There is a $50 million bribe that the government has put up to further its attacks on unions. In summary, we have increases in HECS, 39 universities are worse off, equity issues have been abandoned, the independence of our universities is further compromised, there is no improvement in student support and there are more up-front full-cost fees. In the interests of present and future generations of Australians, the Greens oppose this bill.