The Abbott Government seems to have picked a loser in announcing in the May Federal Budget that it would raise university fees and cut-back funding to universities, pushing the cost of higher education further onto young Australians.
Extensive phone polling across 23 electorates and all states by UMR Research showed that an overwhelming majority of respondents oppose the changes to university fees and funding, suggesting the changes are political poison for the Government. From WA Today:
Sixty-nine per cent of those polled said they opposed “significant increases in fees” and 65 per cent said they opposed a 20 per cent funding cut.
And just 28 per cent of voters said they approved of the idea of deregulating the higher education sector to allow privately owned higher education institutions to have access to Commonwealth subsidies.
The strong negative reaction has fuelled a fierce voter backlash sending Coalition stocks plummeting in a more than 10 per cent swing away from the government averaged across the 23 seats…
I can’t say that I am surprised by these results. Certainly, everyone that I have spoken to about this issue thinks the higher education changes are unfair, with some also claiming that they could “dumb down” the workforce – precisely what you do not want in an increasingly competitive world.
More broadly, the barriers facing Australia’s youth are becoming increasingly prohibitive. 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, as well as a tax system that will increasingly punish income earners while largely ignoring wealth, and the future facing many younger Australians is looking increasingly downbeat.
It also highlights why young people are crying out for genuine political representation, and why there is a unique opportunity emerging for a new party to emerge on the back of disaffected youth. Such parties have gained increasing prominence in Europe, and there is every likelihood that Australia will head down the same path if mainstream parties’ policies continue to ostracize its young.
Bring it on.
