To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives assembled in Parliament:

The petition of the citizens of Australia points out to the House that the Howard Government has:

• nearly doubled the average HECS fees since 1996;
• allowed universities, such as the University of Newcastle, to increase HECS fees by a further 25 per cent from 2005 ;
• introduced full fee degrees costing as much as $210,000 so that more than a third of Australian undergraduates can buy their way into university ahead of students with better marks;
• turned away 20,000 qualified university applicants each year by failing to fund enough places; and
• cut $5 billion in Commonwealth investment in universities.

• immediately legislate to stop the Howard Government’s 25 per cent HECS hikes;
• abolish full fee paying undergraduate places for Australian students;
• create 20,000 extra university places every year; and
• ensure high quality university education by properly indexing university grants.