Education Minister Christopher Pyne is committed to passing his education reform bill, reintroducing it on Wednesday morning after it was defeated in the senate on Tuesday night.
The upper house decisively voted down the bill without letting it get to the second reading stage where amendments could have been considered.
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Mr Pyne said the university deregulation bill would be reintroduced on Wednesday to be debated in February, and he hoped senators were prepared to change their mind.
The University of Western Australia said fees would jump 30 per cent if higher education institutions are able to set their own fees under the proposal.
“I believe we are making progress. I’m a great believer in forward momentum and I won’t be taking a step back,” Mr Pyne said at a press conference on Wednesday.
“The future for universities without reform will be slow decline… it will give us the chance to be competitive.”
Speaking on ABC’s 7.30 program, Mr Pyne conceded the new bill is nine-tenths the same as the previous bill.
“Tomorrow I’ll be introducing a new reform bill which picks up nine of the 10 elements of the previous bill,” he said.
Under the proposal, interest on university loans will be charged at the CPI rate, instead of a government bond rate.
“As far as I’m concerned, round one is over, round two begins tonight.”
source: thenewdaily.com.au
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