Chris Pyne fires another shot at Australia’s youth

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ScreenHunter_26 Oct. 16 10.41

By Leith van Onselen

Education Minister, Christopher Pyne, has called on Australia’s university students to “get some perspective” on the Coalition’s planned changes to university fees and funding, claiming that the Government is “not exactly asking for their left kidney”. From The Guardian:

On Thursday Pyne will introduce legislation to implement his plan to deregulate university fees, decrease course funding by an average 20% and increase the interest rate charged for student loans…

He suggested student protesters who this week tried to burn an effigy of Pyne had lost perspective and were greatly exaggerating the magnitude of the proposed changes.

“I think what they’re protesting about is the election of the Abbott government. They really don’t have the kinds of problems that they are protesting about that deserve the burning of effigies. We’re asking students to pay 50% of the cost of their education … We’re not asking for their left kidney to be donated. I think they need to get some perspective and proportion,” he said…

Pyne said the reforms were essential to prevent Australia’s education sector from “sliding into mediocrity” and from being “overtaken by Asian competitors”.

I always find it amusing when a representative from a generation that received free or cheap university lambasts younger Aussies complaining about large student debts.

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The fact is, the Government’s proposed university reforms represent merely one of the many barriers now facing Australia’s youth.

Not only will most graduate with sky-high debts under the Coalition’s plan, but they are also likely to face poor job prospects following the hollowing-out of the economy over the past decade, as well as increasing automation.

Add to this Australia’s sky high housing costs, a tax system that will increasingly punish income earners while largely ignoring wealth, and tighter eligibility requirements on under-30s receiving the dole (in the event that they are unlucky enough to find themselves unemployed), and it becomes clear that the future facing many younger Australians is looking increasingly downbeat.

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Pyne’s claim that the reforms are essential to prevent Australia’s education sector from “sliding into mediocrity” and from being “overtaken by Asian competitors” also does not make sense. How exactly would cutting coarse funding by 20% help Australian universities to raise quality and compete with their Asian counterparts?

Finally, we also should not forget that recent modelling by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) showed that the Coalition’s reforms to university fees and funding are likely to make science shortages worse, whilst also punishing lower paid essential workers, such as teachers and nurses. Again, this is hardly a recipe for building a clever nation, or ensuring that Australia has a workforce equipped to service the needs of an ageing population.

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.