Sarah Hanson-Young and Rex Patrick urge South Australian colleagues to sink uni funding changes
Senators Sarah Hanson-Young and Rex Patrick are urging Patrick’s former Centre Alliance colleagues to sink the Morrison government’s controversial higher education funding changes, declaring the package will harm the prospects of young people in South Australia.
Last week the Tasmanian independent Jacqui Lambie confirmed she would vote against the package that increases fees for some university courses, including humanities, to fund fee cuts for other courses such as sciences and an overall cut in the government contribution from 58% to 52%.
Lambie’s avowed opposition ahead of the resumption of federal parliament this week puts the Centre Alliance senator, Stirling Griff, in the box seat because One Nation appears to be on board with the changes. Labor, the Greens and Patrick are all opposed.
Griff and his lower house colleague, Rebekah Sharkie, have been consulting universities in their home state of South Australia to see if there is a version of the package they would support.
The two Centre Alliance representatives have not yet resolved their view, and a spokesman for the education minister, Dan Tehan, confirmed discussions were continuing.
With the package in the balance, Hanson-Young and Patrick – both South Australians, but one Green and one independent – have taken the unusual step or issuing a joint statement to ramp up political pressure on Griff and Sharkie.
The joint statement says: “We urge our fellow South Australian politicians to reject the bill and stand up for South Australia.
“The government’s proposed changes will be devastating long term for South Australian families at a time when we actually need more options
for our state’s young people to be engaged in study and training if they are unable to work.
“South Australia’s three major universities oppose this legislation and so should senators Griff and Rebekha Sharkie.”
Last month Sharkie said “some parts” of the bill had merit and she indicated it might be possible to support it if there was a better deal for SA’s universities.
Because all three of the state’s universities are classified as low-growth metropolitan universities, the current package offers them funding for a 1% growth in bachelor places, compared with 2.5% for high-growth metro universities and 3.5% for regional universities.
Sharkie has said previously South Australian universities should get regional status, like the University of Tasmania, because the state has higher unemployment than many other states and is classed as regional for immigration purposes.
Lambie declared the package gave students from low-income households a “raw deal” because they were more likely to be “scared off by having to shoulder a massive debt”.
One of the peak bodies representing universities, Universities Australia, has called on the crossbench to back the job-ready graduate package to achieve funding certainty. But there is still strong backlash among research-intensive universities who fear cuts to their teaching and learning budgets.
With the package in the balance, last week Tehan promised an extra $326m for new places in 2021. On Sunday he said he would keep working to get a result in budget week.
“I want to thank the Senate crossbench for their good faith negotiations,” Tehan said. “I look forward to continuing to work with the crossbench to secure passage of the legislation.”