Unions and student bodies have vowed to oppose the government’s higher education reforms after they were announced in detail yesterday. The education overhaul will raise student course fees by an average of 8 per cent and lower the HECS repayment threshold to $42,000 a year. Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie has already announced she will not support the changes, meaning the government must rely on One Nation and the Nick Xenophon Team to pass the package in the Senate. Meanwhile, student media organisations have condemned the government after being denied accreditation for the budget lock-up next week.

GPs will increasingly prescribe generic medicines under new health savings measures in the budget. The software used by doctors to prescribe medication will be tweaked to nominate generics as a default for patients and require doctors to actively nominate a replacement drug if they wish to prescribe brand-name treatments. The change is expected to net $1.8 billion in budget savings over five years, with the difference fed back into the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. While the Australian Medical Association says the reform could impinge on independent clinical decision making, it has been warmly received by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, which called the move “good policy for patients”.

Greens Senator Nick McKim has been denied access to the Manus Island detention centre ahead of his visit to the island today. McKim, who flew to Papua New Guinea intending to inspect the detention centre, said it was “unthinkable that such a ban would be imposed on Peter Dutton if he wanted to visit the camp, or any other Australian government official”, and that “it wouldn't surprise me if Peter Dutton has got his fingerprints on this one”. McKim will instead meet detainees and local police commander David Yapu outside the centre for a briefing on the attack carried out against asylum seekers by PNG soldiers on Good Friday.

And One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has revealed she has been in talks with the Australian Electoral Commission since January over allegations the party may have breached donor disclosure laws. Speaking on Sky News last night, Hanson defended her chief of staff James Ashby’s purchase of a private plane using funds donated by a property developer, claiming it was Ashby’s personal asset and was therefore exempt from AEC restrictions. One Nation used the plane in question during the recent state election in Western Australia, complete with the party’s name, logo and a caricature of Hanson’s face.