Higher education reforms: Federal Government rolls out advertising campaign spruiking university deregulation proposals
The Federal Government has rolled out an advertising campaign spruiking its proposed changes to universities just days after the Senate defeated its plan to deregulate the sector.
The television and radio advertisements are set to an upbeat tune and tell the audience "Uni graduates can earn 75 per cent more than school leavers and have more career opportunities" and "That's why the Australian Government will continue to pay around half your undergraduate degree and HECS covers the rest".
"So you pay zero course fees up front," the ads say.
Last Wednesday, the Senate voted down the Government's proposed changes, which included allowing universities to set their own fees and a 20 per cent cut in funding to the higher education sector.
The vote forced Education Minister Christopher Pyne to introduce new legislation into the Lower House on Thursday.
Mr Pyne said the new bill was effectively the same but with several amendments, including dumping plans to charge higher interest on student loans and introducing a five-year interest rate pause on HECS debts for new parents.
The bill is expected to be debated when Parliament resumes in February, but it is unclear whether it will have enough support to pass the Senate.
According to Education Department documents, the campaign was approved on November 25 and complied with guidelines that stipulated the advertising must "inform the public of new, existing or proposed government policies, or policy revisions".
A spokesman for Mr Pyne described the ads as an "information campaign" which was designed to "better inform Australians about the current higher education system and funding available to students".
"The campaign will help to counter any myths and misconceptions about the current higher education system and raise awareness of HECS," he said.
The spokesman said the campaign was based on facts and the cost would be released "in due course".
"The Government is spending far less on information campaigns than the previous government did. Labor spent over $500 million on advertising during its period in office."
Opposition treasury spokesman Chris Bowen said the ad campaign was a farce and demanded the Government reveal its cost.
"A week after losing a vote in the Senate, what's the answer?" he asked.
"Do they go back and scrap their changes? Do they listen to the people? Do they try and come up with a scheme that doesn't include a 20 per cent funding cut?
"No. What they do is they spend millions of dollars of taxpayers' money - we don't know how much and they should reveal those figures today - they spend millions of dollars of taxpayers' money on taxpayer-funded advertising which is misleading."
