TONY Abbott has vowed to continue his pursuit of university sector reform, potentially setting the scene for a double dissolution election.

The Prime Minister said he would not give up on attempts to deregulate the sector and the bill would again be put to parliament.

“We will have another go at this,” Mr Abbott told Sydney’s 2SM radio this morning.

“Just about all the university vice chancellors say that if universities are to flourish in the future they need to lose the hand of Canberra.”

If the bill is put to parliament again it the same form and fails, the option for a double dissolution is live.

The procedure is allowed when a bill is defeated twice and is aimed at resolving deadlocks in parliament.

The last double dissolution was held in 1987 by Bob Hawke over the Australia Card bill.

Mr Abbott said Labor’s concerns about university reforms were “completely misplaced” and deregulation would actually result in better outcomes overall.

“Absolutely completely misplaced,” he said.

About 50,000 scholarships would be opened up for disadvantaged students under the reforms so the notion that universities would only be for the rich was wrong, the Prime Minister said.

Mr Abbott’s defiant stance on the reform came as pressure continued to mount for Education Minister Christopher Pyne to resign or be sacked.

This morning Labor’s higher education spokesman Kim Carr said Mr Pyne was not fit to hold his job and should be replaced.

“This is beyond humiliation ... it goes to competence,” Senator Carr told ABC radio.

“It’s time for Christopher Pyne to consider his future — if he doesn’t he should be sacked.”

Mr Abbott defended Mr Pyne and said he was doing an “excellent job”. He said Mr Pyne would remain in his position.

“Absolutely, he is doing really, really good job,” Mr Abbott told Neil Mitchell’s 3AW.

The Prime Minister said he would resubmit the legislation to parliament and work with the crossbenchers to achieve its success.

“We will resubmit the legislation and will talk again to senators all around the parliament,” Mr Abbott said.

The Greens and Labor have vowed to vote against any deregulation of the university sector.

“We will not be voting for any proposal that puts higher education out of the reach of everyday Australians,” Senator Carr said.

Labor’s calls for Mr Pyne to be dumped follows a similar call from Tasmanian independent Senator Jacqui Lambie earlier in the week.

She said on Monday there should be a cabinet reshuffle following the disaster bill.

“That will be up to Tony Abbott to decide that or Malcolm Turnbull preferably,” Senator Lambie said.

The leader of the government in the Senate, Eric Abetz, this morning said Labor leader Bill Shorten had “failed spectacularly” in allowing his party to vote against the reform.

“It is up to Mr Shorten to show national leadership on this issue and he has failed spectacularly,” Senator Abetz said.

The Prime Minister later described the Greens and Labor as “feral” in the Senate.

“The Labor Party and the Greens are completely feral,” Mr Abbott said.

“They are obstructing for obstructions sake and I am inviting the Labor Party to atone for its errors and to actually be part of the solution.”