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  • Labor can’t kick its addiction to unrestrained spending

    01/06/11

    Labor’s position on Student Learning Entitlements (SLEs) shows once again they cannot be trusted with taxpayers’ money and are desperately trying to steer the debate away from the crucial question of university funding, said the Shadow Minister for Universities and Research, Senator Brett Mason.

    “Today, Higher Education Minister, Chris Evans, accused the Coalition of ‘addiction to university red tape’ in a pathetic attempt to distract the taxpayers from Labor’s own addiction to uncontrolled spending,” said Senator Mason.

    The Coalition intends to retain Student Learning Entitlements which Labor wants to abolish in the Higher Education Support Amendment (Demand Driven Funding System and Other Measures) Bill 2011 to be debated in the House of Representatives this week.

    Student Learning Entitlement entitles a student to seven equivalent full-time years of study in a Commonwealth supported place. It means in practice that there is a time limit to how long any person can enjoy higher education while being supported by the taxpayer-funded HECS-HELP system.

    “There is a perfectly sensible policy rationale for retaining the SLEs and limiting the time students can spend at university courtesy of Australian taxpayers,” said Senator Mason.

    “It is to prevent the so-called ‘professional students’ from pursuing never-ending universities studies while accumulating tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars of the HECS-HELP debt they will never be in a position to repay.

    “Australian taxpayers are quite generous. The current system provides university students with subsidised higher education and a heavily subsidised loan system to cover the costs.

    “In turn, ordinary taxpayers demand mutual obligation – an assurance that the system and their generosity will not be abused by those who make university studies into a full-time career.

    “The Coalition strongly believes that there should be some limit to the burden borne by taxpayers.

    “The ALP, as usual, believes that there should be no limit on taxpayer largesse. It’s all about spending someone else’s money without any sensible restraints.

    “It’s doubly ironic that Labor wants to abolish the SLEs at the same time it moves to a student-demand driven system in higher education.

    “Under the new system, there will be no limit as to how many students universities can enrol. In other words there will be no limit to how many Commonwealth supported places the government provides and pays for.

    “This reform will involve a large increase in the Government’s expenditure on higher education. But at the same time as the Government takes on this considerable additional financial burden, it wants to add to that burden by abolishing the SLC. Under Labor, there will not only be no limit on how many students can attend university, but also no limit on how long they can to stay there – all courtesy of the Australian taxpayer.

    “Minister Evans’s concern for ‘red tape’ is touching if not hypocritical, considering Labor’s record on regulation, but it should not distract anyone from the fact that this is really a question of economic responsibility and accountability.”
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