Christopher “the fixer” Pyne has failed to get his changes through the Senate. Again.
The Senate has voted to reject the Federal Government’s legislation to deregulate universities, for a second time.
The changes — which the Coalition has been trying to ram through for months — would allowed universities to set their own fees, a move which Labor and the Greens have warned could lead to $100,000 degrees and create a university sector based on wealth rather than merit.
The Higher Education and Research Reform Bill was defeated 34 votes to 30, with several crossbench senators joining Labor and the Greens to vote against it.
Déjà vu, anyone? Students saved from $100,000 degrees as Parliament votes down education reform.
ABC News reports that independent Senators Nick Xenophon, Jacqui Lambie and Glenn Lazarus, Ricky Muir from the Motoring Enthusiasts Party, and Palmer United Party senator Dio Wang opposed the bill, while Family First Senator Bob Day and Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm supported it.
Independent Senator John Madigan also voted in favour of the bill, but said he had serious concerns about its current form.
“I also fear the consequences of doing nothing,” he told the Senate.
Senator Xenophon agreed that the system should be changed, but made it clear he did not believe deregulation was the correct path.
“I cannot accept what the Federal Government is doing. I cannot support it,” he said. But he also acknowledged Education Minister Christopher Pyne’s willingness to compromise. “[Education] Minister Pyne is incredibly flexible,” he said. “More flexible than a yoga instructor, I think sometimes.”
Top Comments
A number of things strike me here.
1) I don't get it. Why do we need uni fee reform? How broke is the current system? Can someone explain this to me in a simple, and relatively unbiased way? (Please, no rusted on ideologues from either side of the pol divide.)
2) Chris Pyne is scary in his complete volte face ability to say one thing today and barefacedly turn 180 degrees tomorrow. Yet I kinda like him.
3) Thank gawd for Senate independents, as clueless, mercurial and off-the-planet whacky (Jacquie) as they are. Can you imagine the horror state the country would be in now if the thought-bubble policies of the current government actually got a Guernsey? Holy shit.
Basically uni's need more funding and the Government needs to save money. There does need to be uni reform, but deregulation is not the answer. It's a simple solution to a complex problem.
If uni's were run more efficiently and if the Government had announced this policy prior to the 2013 election, then perhaps the public would be more open to this debate. The proposed policy wouldn't even come into effect until 2020, so current high school students wouldn't even be affected. But, once uni deregulation occurs, no Government will ever go back, that's why so many people are fighting for future students.
Yeah debt reduction is such a horror outcome.
I guess burning down homes, people drowning, no surpluses, overpriced school halls, treating your trading partners with contempt, bugging their phones etc etc is your type of government. Oh plus tax the air.
1) The system isn't "broke" as yet, but it's getting tight. Since Labor uncapped uni places (a move I do not agree with - yes, everyone should have the chance to go to uni regardless of financial status, but there does still need to be academic cut-offs), a lot of unis have been struggling with the huge influx of students, but the same amount of government funding. And several unis aren't just trying to fund student placements - Group of Eight universities are also funding a lot of scientific and medical research. Combine that with expensive degrees like med, dentistry and vet, and the fact that arts and humanities degrees are almost exclusively offered at Go8 unis, and you can see how they might struggle. I think we need to re-cap places so that student numbers become sustainable again, and we can hopefully avoid the deregulation of uni fees. The students themselves are also suffering - several who would not have had the grades to go to uni ten years ago are now enrolling, and struggling with the coursework as they are not suited to academic life. As a PhD student in chemistry at a Go8 uni, I can tell you that a huge number of students enroll in first year, and several of them just cannot cope and end up dropping out because they are not suited to tertiary study. We need to stop putting such a focus on having a bachelor's degree and return to things like IT being taught at TAFE, and maybe even education at teachers' colleges, because 'forcing' students into uni to be able to get a job is not conducive to a stable education environment.
2) Christopher Pyne is a ridiculous politician with a horrible speaking voice - but each to their own! Really, the government just needs to show some gumption and stand up for what they believe in - all this 180-ing isn't doing them any favours. I don't agree with a lot of their proposals, but they must have at some point...
3) I agree! I don't think she necessarily goes about things the right way all the time (e.g. refusing to vote on any pieces of legislature until Army salaries were increased - that's just holding back the country), but she does stand up for what's right. Ricky Muir is another nice surprise.
Really loved your response to poiint 1 squish - it actually help put some things in perspective for me also. I also agree, that uni places should be capped also.
I'm getting pizzed off with these two bob Senators. All but one university chancellor supports these changes. Anyone who has anything to do with universities knows that they need a bloody big broom through them.
I can understand why chancellors would support increases in university income, but what benefits, to students or to Australia, does deregulation deliver?
But deregulating uni fees is not the right way to do that. Saddling the future generations with huge amounts of debt is not fair, and just because someone can afford to go to uni, doesn't mean they should or that they are going to be a better doctor/dentist/scientist/art history professor/engineer/etc. than those that can't afford a $100,000 degree. What we need to do is place a cap on university placements again.