User:Liberalcynic/sandbox

University & TAFE Deregulation

The Abbott government announced in the budget it will deregulation of universities and TAFEs. Furthermore the amount of public funding for university courses will be slashed by 20% and expose students to big increases in their student debts with the removal of all caps on the fees universities can charge. Student debts will be compounded at the 10 year bond rate with a cap at 6% (it has historically is typically above 6%) instead of the Consumer Price Index. Total higher education funding the government projects will by 2017-18 be $9.5 billion. While this is a nominal increase of $750 million compared with 2012-13; analysis by Guardian Australia shows it represents a cut of about $1.5 billion in real terms when population growth and inflation are taken into account. The government then claimed that removing the upper limit on university fees will cause fees to decrease. This contradicts the designer of the HECS system, Professor Bruce Chapman, who has warned student debts will triple.

Following the announcement of hikes to student debts, the prime minister Tony Abbott cancelled an appearance at Deakin University citing Australian Federal Policy security concerns. It was later revealed that the prime minister lied about the Australian Federal Police advising Tony Abbott not to visit Deakin University for safety reasons, as no recommendation was made.