Senator ABETZ (Tasmania—Leader of the Government in the Senate, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service and Minister for Employment) (14:05): That is an assertion with which we as a government of course disagree, as does—and I will get his name right today—Professor Ian Young. Not Ian Chubb but Professor Ian Young from the ANU has dismissed that completely. But, in relation to university reform, can I refer to the Nobel laureate Professor Brian Schmidt, who said: I think this is an incredibly important reform. The current university funding model is, in my opinion, not very good. I would say it's close to being broken. The PRESIDENT: Pause the clock. Senator Moore: Mr President, I raise a point of order on direct relevance to the question. The question referred specifically to Professor Bruce Chapman's comments. The PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator Moore. The minister has 22 seconds in which to answer the question. I call the minister. Senator ABETZ: If Labor do not want to hear from a Nobel laureate, so be it. How about former Labor Premier Peter Beattie, who said: Make no mistake— The PRESIDENT: Pause the clock. Senator Wong: Mr President, I rise on a point of order as to direct relevance. The only question that the minister was asked was to confirm that the increase would result in $100,000 degrees for four types of courses. Senator ABETZ: I have rejected that. The PRESIDENT: Order, Senator Abetz! Senator Wong: That is all he was asked. With respect, Mr President, it is a mockery of question time to allow ministers simply to answer any question by reference to a range of unrelated quotes. Senator ABETZ: Mr President, on the point of order: the question was clearly about the false assertion about $100,000 degrees and then whether I agreed with somebody else's quote. So, in response to that, I am providing other quotes absolutely rejecting the assertion of Senator Carr. Clearly, that is in order. The PRESIDENT: In relation to the point of order, the minister did answer up-front that he rejected the assertion of the question. The minister—as all ministers have and continue to do—can elaborate on the answer. Minister, you have the call. Senator ABETZ: If they do not like Labor has-beens, how about a current Labor fellow like Andrew Leigh, the member for Fraser: … universities should be free to set student fees according to the market value of their degrees. (Time expired)