Mr LEE (5:29 PM) —As the Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs has outlined, this increases the funding available to higher education institutions throughout the country. I wish to make the point to the House that this is probably no surprise, given that this was one of the proposals in the minister's secret cabinet submission outlined the following description of the current state of universities in Australia. It said:

Universities are currently in a difficult financial position. While the government funding is stable, they face rising costs in salaries and investment in new technology. The current regulation of undergraduate fees limits university revenue and, per versely, prevents students from investing in their own futures. Already, eight institutions appear to be operating at a deficit, and some regional campuses are at risk.

Consideration interrupted; adjournment proposed and negatived.

Mr LEE —I understand the House is keen to have an adjournment debate tonight, so I will make one five-minute contribution and that will be the end of my contribution to this. The point I wish to make is that it was made clear in the cabinet submission the opposition released to the public that the reason the minister tried to deregulate university fees and bring in vouchers and loans with a real rate of interest was his belief that universities need extra funding. I have just quoted the crucial clause in the cabinet submission. Already, eight institutions appear to be operating at a deficit and some regional campuses are at risk. The minister's answer is to massively increase fees for university students, bring in a voucher system and force students to pay real rates of interest on loans.

We understand that the amendment before the House today provides a one-off injection of some money to universities. I am sure there are universities out there that are desperate for those funds, and I am sure there are universities out there that understand that, if this minister has his way, it will not stop there. If this minister has his way, his solution to the financial crisis that he has described in the cabinet submission is the full monty—the deregulation of fees, the imposition of vouchers and the introduction of real rates of interest on student loans. The agenda that this minister has is a $100,000 fee for Australian students to go to university, parents being forced to take on that $100,000 debt to spare their children, parents being forced to choose whether they pay off the mortgage on the house or pay off the mortgage on the children's education and parents, in an almost medieval manner, being forced to decide which of their children is to be lucky enough to go to university.

We hoped we could believe the Prime Minister when he said, as recently as last Monday, that all this was off the agenda, but we know it is there in that minister's top drawer. I bet if the minister opened that top drawer there at the table the plan would still be there. This minister has believed for 20 years there should be vouchers. This minister and this Prime Minister have argued for 10 years for the deregulation of university fees. This minister outlined in this secret cabinet submission the case that he believes justifies the imposition of real rates of interest for student loans. In New Zealand, which followed the David Kemp formula, student debt now exceeds New Zealand's national debt. In New Zealand there is a massive brain drain because students are being forced to leave their country and, when they leave their country, the debt compounds. They will never return as long as the David Kemp policy applies in New Zealand.

We know this plan will come out of that top drawer again, and we make it clear to this Prime Minister and this minister for education that, whenever it does, we will pursue them just as vigorously as we have in the last two weeks. This minister has failed on three occasions: he failed in his attempts to bring in the Job Network, he failed in his attempts to bring in VSU and his proposals to deregulate fees and bring in the $100,000 university fee have been put on hold. We say to the minister that they are the reasons that he should be sacked by John Howard. We know that as long as David Kemp remains the minister for education the $100,000 university fee lives. Until the $100,000 fee is scrapped by scrapping this minister the Labor Party will continue to oppose these policies.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.