Dr KEMP (Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) (12:41 PM) —Again it is necessary to educate the shadow minister. The sentence that he refers to referred to `perceptions'. Let us have a look at student-staff ratios. The OECD figures which have since come out have clearly indicated that Australia has a student-staff ratio at universities which is significantly lower than the OECD average. Not only that, the changes in student-staff ratios in recent years have been entirely as a result of the voluntary decisions of the universities themselves in admitting the marginally funded students. The government has not compelled the universities to admit these students; the universities have total control over the numbers of students they admit to the marginally funded places. If they choose not to admit any, that is entirely up to them. The changes in student-staff ratios entirely reflect the decisions of the universities to increase the numbers of these marginally funded students, and they have done so because they have made a judgment that they have the capacity in terms of staffing and infrastructure to provide quality education for these students. As I said in my previous answer to the shadow minister, students have never been so satisfied with their experience as they are at present.