The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations congratulates the Labor Opposition on its decision not to back the $2.3bn cuts to the higher education sector when Parliament and the Senate vote on them over the next week.
“The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations has been strongly opposed to any cuts to higher education funding from day one, and it’s great to see the Labor Opposition join us in support of students,” said President of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations, Meghan Hopper.
“Students will be relieved to know that with the help of the Labor Opposition, the Greens and Independents like Andrew Wilkie, the vote to pass the $2.3bn cuts should fail in the Senate,” Ms Hopper said.
The $2.3bn cuts to the higher education sector were originally announced by the Labor Party in Government earlier this year and were intended to help fund the Better Schools Plan, which was based on the outcomes of the Gonski Review.
“Prior to the election, CAPA expressed concerns that while the Labor Party was robbing Peter to pay Paul with their funding swap from Universities to schools, the Coalition intended to simply rob students – then run away with their money,” said Ms Hopper.
“This concern has come to bear, with the Coalition confirming that they will push ahead with $2.3 billion in cuts to higher education funding, even as they make daily changes to the way they intend to fund schools,” Ms Hopper said.
“World-class school students expect world-class universities – it makes absolutely no sense to fund one while you are gutting the other,” said Ms Hopper.
In an announcement earlier today, Shadow Minister for Higher Education, Senator Kim Carr said that Labor only supported savings in the higher education sector where they contributed to their six-year Better Schools plan.
“The savings we identified… were proposed for the very specific purpose of funding Labor’s $11.5 billion Better Schools Plan,” Senator Carr said in a statement.
“The Abbott Government has abandoned proper funding and a meaningful six year reform program,” said Senator Carr.
Meghan B. Hopper, CAPA National President
