2016-12-05
Targeting university students and increasing their debt is not the answer to the long term sustainability of Australia’s higher education sector, the Australian Greens have said in response to a Grattan Institute report.
“The Turnbull government want to take an axe to higher education funding and they shouldn’t look to increasing student debt to make up any shortfall,” the Greens’ education spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
“At the heart of all this is a question of priorities. Investing in the future of the educated workforce is a far more appropriate way to spend public funds than subsidising the overseas owned Adani coal mine.
“Slugging students with more debt isn’t the answer.
“Increasing funding in education, so that every Australian can go to a high quality school and TAFE or university, is an investment in the future.
“Adding a 15% fee to university loans would mean that wealthy students, who can pay for their courses upfront, will ultimately pay thousands of dollars less for their education than those who can’t.”
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