2015-02-16
Senator Lee Rhiannon
Australia enjoyed a free TAFE and university education system from 1974 to 1988. Many of today's political leaders benefited — Joe Hockey, Malcolm Turnbull, Julie Bishop, Barnaby Joyce along with Christopher Pyne and Tony Abbott.
Now these Coalition leaders are pushing for deregulation that would allow university managements to increase fees to beyond $100,000.
The Australian Veterinary Association's modelling revealed that student debts would be well over $200,000 for a five to seven-year degree and that it could take vets 30 years to pay off.
The Liberal/National government's plan includes a 20 per cent funding cut and just on half a billion dollar allocation for private for profit higher education companies.
The opening up of huge amounts of public funding to private, for-profit education companies in the form of competitive tendering that was initiated by the Gillard Labor Government has been a disaster for vocational education.
State Governments were told they would only get access to increased funding if they diverted public resources into the private sector. These reforms have led to significant cuts to our valued TAFE system, massive job losses and increases to student fees.
The Federal Coalition Government now wants to expand this failed model into the higher education sector — slashing university funding while handing out $500 million in subsidies to private, for-profit higher education companies.
It is so vital that public money is not diverted away from universities towards private for-profit higher education providers.
The good news is that thanks to a strong campaign by the tertiary sector union and student groups backed by the Greens, the Liberal/Nationals bill that set out their plan to make students pay more, cut university funding and bring in the private sector was voted down in the Senate.
In another sign of the desperation that has come to characterise the Abbott government Minister Pyne reintroduced virtually the same bill as the one that was defeated within 24 hours of the bill being voted down in the Senate.
The battle is on again and it looks like Mr Abbott and Mr Pyne are going to lose again.
In the first sitting week of 2015, the Greens, Labor, Senator Ricky Muir, Senator Jacqui Lambie, Senator Nick Xenaphon and the Palmer United Party co-sponsored an inquiry into alternatives to deregulation, which is due to report by March 17.
This inquiry shows the Senate is eager to put the debate around funding cuts and fee deregulation behind it and focus on positive reforms that will sustain Australia's high-quality public higher education system, particularly in regional areas.
Mr Pyne may continue the facade that there is still room for negotiations, but Labor, the Greens and most of the crossbench don't support fee deregulation in any form.
The Coalition's dream team of Vice Chancellors who back deregulation is also slowly crumbling, with VC of Victoria University, Peter Dawkins, the latest to break ranks.
University of Canberra vice chancellor Professor Stephen Parker was the first to break ranks in June last year when he said he was strongly against the proposed reforms, 'describing them as unfair, unethical, reckless and poor economic policy'.
The Greens One Million Reasons campaign calling on the Senate to vote down the bill a second time is surging with support. We have had more than 6000 current and former students and their allies sign onto it in less than a month.
Our aim is to defeat this latest attack on public universities and build the campaign for free higher education.
The level of per student public funding in Australia is now well below the OECD average. The cuts that have seen this run down have lead to increased class sizes, bigger academic teaching loads, greater casualisation and job losses.
Meanwhile more countries are recognising the benefits of free higher education. Last year Germany abandoned its fee paying system introduced in 2005 and joined the growing number of nations from Europe, Latin America and Asia that foster equity and accessibility in their universities.
Work for free higher education is nothing new. Back in 1966 when the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was adopted it set out support for the goal of free higher education on the basis that education should be accessible to all.
Higher education reform is desperately needed in Australia. The university sector is right to say that the current status quo is untenable. The cost of this reform however should not be borne by students and their families.
As the battle heats up to defeat the Abbott government and their attacks on public universities, student rights and staff working conditions let's talk about a future in which every Australian has an equal opportunity to obtain a higher education, regardless of their parent's bank account.
Australia is a rich country where education should provide everyone with opportunity. So let's make it free.
Senator Lee Rhiannon is Australian Greens spokesperson for higher education.