Removal of local full-fee paying Uni places

Reports that Universities will be unable to meet student demand for higher education this year shows the poor judgement of the Labor Government in its decision to abolish full-fee paying University places for Australian students, the Shadow Minister for Education, Christopher Pyne said today.

"Putting ideology before fairness, the Minister for Education, Julia Gillard, stopped Australian students from accessing full-fee paying places as one of her first acts in Government," Mr Pyne said.

"Overseas students are able to access Australian Universities in full-fee places, Australian students are not," he said.

"Full-fee paying places are a huge boon to Universities allowing more students access to higher education overall and extra revenue to fund infrastructure and research.

"The decision to stop Universities from accessing funds from full-fee paying Australian students was widely condemned by the higher education sector at the time.

"Having announced ambitious targets to increase University attendance rates, the reported shortage of places and failure to meet demand is an early indicator that once again Labor is all talk and no action," Mr Pyne said.

January 14, 2010

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