Senator STOTT DESPOJA —My question is addressed to the Minister representing the Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs. Is the minister aware that the cabinet submission by Dr Kemp contains the following quotes:

Institutions' income will depend directly on their decisions about the level of fees.

And:

The deregulation of fees will allow the proportion financed by taxpayers to decrease.

Is the minister also aware that when asked about these statements on the 7.30 Report last night, Dr Kemp stated:

Over time there is always going to be a changing balance between the public and the private contribution and that will depend . . . on the entrepreneurial attitudes of the universities themselves.

Does this not indicate that these proposals are about reducing public expenditure on higher education by shifting the cost of education from the public as a whole to the individuals who can afford to pay?

Senator ELLISON (Special Minister of State) —I do not know how many times I have to say it: the question of the deregulation of fees has been ruled out. Senator Stott Despoja and the opposition are still using this so-called cabinet submission, which we still have not seen—no-one is tabling it; they are all relying on it but no-one is coming forward with it—as some sort of a bogus authority. What we have is the minister, Dr Kemp, and the Prime Minister, ruling out the voucher system, ruling out any deregulation of the fee structure and looking at ways of improving access of Australian students to higher education.

In relation to universities, we are encouraging them to become more entrepreneurial. Senator Stott Despoja would no doubt realise that a lot of universities across Australia are embarking on partnerships with private enterprise, and to support this we have introduced tax incentives and benefits so that you will get more funding from private sectors for universities. Just in my home state, the University of Western Australia has some remarkable projects under way which are benefiting students in the community at large and which are the product of partnerships between that university and the private sector. We would expect universities to be more entrepreneurial. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. It is part of our policy, and I understand a lot of universities are pursuing this. For the record, let me say this once more—and I hope the opposition and the Democrats are listening: the Prime Minister has ruled out vouchers; he has ruled out deregulation of the fee system.

Senator STOTT DESPOJA —Madam President, I ask a supplementary question. Are the Prime Minister and the Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs ruling out further deregulation of the higher education sector and vouchers for the life of this parliament or for the period of time they are in government? If these reforms are not about reducing public expenditure, why are the projected savings $800 million?

Senator ELLISON (Special Minister of State) —I know in the other place the Leader of the Opposition has just asked the Prime Minister to undertake that it would never happen, and the Prime Minister said, `You obviously assume that we're going to be in government forever.' The Prime Minister has ruled out these measures for the period that he remains Prime Minister, and that will be for a long time.