Senator VANSTONE (Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs)(11.33 a.m.) —The government does not support this amendment. It seems to require institutions to set all postgraduate fees at the level of the existing HECS charge. We believe this amendment will have the effect of reducing the number of postgraduate courses offered by institutions, because it is not viable to offer all postgraduate courses on a HECS equivalent basis. There are now 27,000 fee paying postgraduate students as a consequence of the previous government's amendments, which we support, and we do not support this amendment.

   Question put:

   That the amendment (Senator Margetts's ) be agreed to.