MICHAEL McCormack has admitted the Abbott government’s controversial university reforms were rejected by the electorate – and they should have been flagged prior to the last election.
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The Riverina MP’s admission comes as the newly minted education minister appears to be in retreat from the reforms, shelving the higher education bills until next year at the earliest – a move applauded by Charles Sturt University (CSU).
The reforms would have deregulated university fees, cut course funding by 20 per cent and allowed universities to set the price.
It sparked concern Australia was headed towards an American-style education system.
CSU was one of the reform’s staunchest critics and claimed regional students were unfairly disadvantaged.
Mr McCormack said the reforms were a “hard sell”, particularly in the bush.
“CSU was the one regional university that was very concerned and that is understandable,” he said.
“Any reform legislation as far-reaching as this needed to be accepted by the electorate, probably by way of a pre-election announcement, whereas this was unveiled after we just won government.”
Education Minister Simon Birmingham has vowed to consult with universities, students, employers and Senate crossbenchers before introducing any changes.
CSU vice-chancellor Andrew Vann recognised the government needed to address funding challenges, but said future reforms needed to be “sensible”.
“We have always been prepared to support sensible reform proposals by the government," he said.
"But it is vital to ensure that students, particularly regional students, are not financially excluded from going to university.”
Professor Vann said attracting trained professionals to the regions started with giving them rurally based education opportunities.
"That must include a commitment to an appropriate level of government investment,” he said.
Riverina Labor secretary Tim Kurylowicz warned the government could come back to the table with the same reforms.
“Until the Coalition have a change in principle towards higher education, we’re going to see cuts that hurt Wagga and CSU,” he said. “They haven’t had a change of heart, they’ve just missed a deadline.”
Mr McCormack accused Labor of months-long “scaremongering”.
