Higher education reforms: Government prepared to sacrifice billions of dollars to get uni bills through Parliament

Updated

The Federal Government has given up nearly $3.5 billion in potential savings in a renewed effort to get its higher education overhaul through the Senate.

The Senate last night voted down the Government's legislation to deregulate universities, but this morning Education Minister Christopher Pyne introduced a revised bill into the Lower House.

"I'm not a quitter and I have no intention of giving up on this reform," he said.

"We had a defeat this week and I don't think there's any shame in that at all."

Mr Pyne said the new bill was effectively the same as the previous one but with several amendments, including giving the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission the power to monitor university fees and ensuring domestic students' fees are lower than their international counterparts.

The Government will also dump plans to charge higher interest on student loans and introduce a five-year interest rate pause on HECS debts for new parents.

Those concessions wipe out a significant chunk of the proposed savings.

Under the original legislation, the Government expected to save $3.9 billion, but the Financial Impact Statement on the new legislation estimates savings of just $451 million.

Mr Pyne expects the bill to be debated in February and is hoping "time and persuasion" will get it across the line.

"It will pass the Senate at some stage, I believe in it fervently," he said.

"My view is that there is an understanding in the crossbench that there needs to be reform to the university sector.

"I believe there will be a majority for this reform next year, we simply need to give the crossbench more time to think about the aspects of the reform."

The introduction of a new bill means the Government cannot use the legislation as a double dissolution trigger.

"Do I believe the Australian public want another election? Absolutely not," Mr Pyne said.

"Sure there'll be setbacks, and this is a setback.

"But does that mean the Government gives up and calls an election? Absolutely not."

Fair bill will require more than 'furious texting', Shorten says

Earlier this morning, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten tried to suspend standing orders in the House of Representatives so he could move a motion condemning the Prime Minister over the issue.

Mr Shorten also called a special caucus meeting this morning to discuss higher education.

He told the meeting the votes were not there for the new bill the Minister is pursuing.

If savings are found from my department, I will hang that around the neck of Tanya Plibersek each and every day until the next election. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop

"What we also know is that it will require more than window dressing, furious texting [or] demon dialling by the Minister for Education," he told colleagues.

"These proposals before the House, be they the previous ones or the threatened new ones, are irredeemable and they are unfair."

Mr Shorten has pledged to keep fighting against the Government's reform proposals and seek a mandate at the next election for what he said was "an acceptable future for higher education".

Opposition Senate leader Penny Wong told RN Breakfast the Government should go back to the drawing board.

She said the Education Minister was putting forward a bill that contained almost all of the same elements of the proposal rejected by the Senate.

"People don't support what this Government is looking to do on higher education. That's why the Senate comprehensively voted down that legislation," she said.

"Perhaps instead of trying to pretend he's Churchill, Christopher Pyne might actually try to go back to the drawing board and come up with a package that is more fair and doesn't involve, at its heart, a cut to university funding per student place."

Lazarus 'won't entertain' cutting funding, deregulating fees

Palmer United Party Senate leader Glenn Lazarus is holding firm in his opposition to the deregulation of university fees.

"As long as there is any hint of deregulating university fees or cutting funding to the universities I won't entertain it," Senator Lazarus said.

"I just don't want to discourage young men and women to further their education, and I think fees going up would certainly do that."

Senator Lazarus - who yesterday accused Mr Pyne of "harassing" him via SMS to gain his support for the original bill - would not rule out meeting the Education Minister at some stage.

"It is Christmas so if he wants to have a celebratory drink, I'm certainly open to that," he said.

"I have nothing against Christopher Pyne, I think he's a great guy doing a great job, but at the end of the day I just don't want to see university fees increase."

Government will have to look for savings elsewhere: Bishop

Meanwhile, the Foreign Affairs Minister has warned Labor will be to blame if the Government has to look for savings from departments like hers to cover the gap left by measures blocked in the Senate.

The Government estimated about $28 billion of savings were being blocked in the Upper House.

Julie Bishop said if the changes did not pass, the Government would have no alternative but to look elsewhere.

"So, if savings are found from my department, I will hang that around the neck of [Labor foreign affairs spokeswoman] Tanya Plibersek each and every day until the next election," she said.

"Because she has a choice: pass the budget proposals that we took to the election and have been arguing for, otherwise if there are savings from my department she, as the shadow foreign minister, will be accountable for them."

Ms Plibersek said it was clear the Coalition was planning more cuts to foreign aid.

"I think it's plain, if you read between the lines, that Julie Bishop's been rolled in the expenditure review committee again," she said.

"She's softening up to make that announcement now. I don't blame her personally for this, I understand it must be humiliating to have the expenditure review committee coming back again and again to this same portfolio."

The Government already cut $7.6 billion from foreign aid, the biggest savings measure in the May budget.

Treasurer Joe Hockey is due to release a mid-year budget update in about a fortnight and has ruled out making new cuts to plug the Government's revenue shortfall.

Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, university-and-further-education, federal-parliament, australia

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