Louise Yaxley reported this story on Wednesday, December 3, 2014 08:00:12

CHRIS UHLMANN: The Education Minister Christopher Pyne is taking a pugnacious approach to university deregulation, declaring that round two has already started. He lost round one yesterday when the Senate voted down his bill. And that defeat was decisive. The Upper House rejected it without letting it get to point where amendments could be considered.



But Mr Pyne is bringing in a new bill today to reboot his higher education plan. It will include some of the changes he's negotiated with the cross benchers and he will put it to the Senate for a vote next year.



Political correspondent Louise Yaxley reports.



LOUISE YAXLEY: Despite losing in the Senate yesterday Mr Pyne's not throwing in the towel. He says he's back for round two.



This morning he'll introduce a new bill because he insists the changes are vitally important for the universities and the nation.



But Labor's education spokesman Kim Carr said it's such a politically unpopular topic the Opposition's happy to have the issue drag on.



KIM CARR: We'll fight this all the way through. The Government's proposals are at their core fundamentally rotten. They are unfair, they are unnecessary, they are rushed.



The real issue here will be that the next election will be around these issues. We look forward to the contest and we will hang these proposals around the necks of the Liberal Party because they are fundamentally unfair, unnecessary and completely deceptive.



LOUISE YAXLEY: The defeated bill said universities would be able to set their own fees from January 2016. But this setback for the Government means the uncertainty over deregulation will continue through next year while students are considering whether to sign up for degree courses.



The Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon said that's confusing for them and the sector.



LEE RHIANNON: The uncertainty for students, prospective students, their families is considerable. For a few hours there at least was some certainty. But the Minister's arrogance is really doing a wrong thing by those students, also a wrong thing by how the universities are going to manage. What is their funding certainty for how they're going to manage their own budgets?



LOUISE YAXLEY: She says bringing the new bill in today means the Government will still keep the savings of more than $4 billion on the books when it releases the mid-year economic update soon.



LEE RHIANNON: This really is a budget bill. It was always about taking $5 billion out of the public university system. And now by getting it back in legislation they're managing the embarrassment that they had because the bill was defeated and they can get that line item back in there.



LOUISE YAXLEY: Mr Pyne is signalling his determination by saying that great reform takes time. He says he has a great relationship with the cross bench and will keep lobbying them for their support.



But his efforts so far have annoyed Palmer United Senate leader Glenn Lazarus who said the Minister was harassing him by inundating him with text messages.



GLENN LAZARUS: We are opposed to higher education reforms for a number of reasons and no amount of texting, chocolates and red roses from Christopher Pyne is going to change my mind or the mind of my colleague, Senator Dio Wang.



LOUISE YAXLEY: Mr Pyne said he sent texts because Senator Lazarus was the only cross bencher to refuse to have meetings with him.



CHRIS UHLMANN: Political correspondent Louise Yaxley.









