Ms RISHWORTH (Kingston) (15:14): This is an incredibly important matter for the House to deal with, because the government's plan for $100,000 degrees is still on the table. No amount of sweet talking by the government or the Prime Minister and no amount of reassuring coos by the new Minister for Education and Training can change the fact that this government's disastrous $100,000 degree plan is still on the table. What we have from this minister—instead of a radical change in policy direction—is merely a one-year delay in bringing on those opposite's disastrous policy, which would cut funding to universities and foist $100,000 degrees onto university students. Of course, the question is: why is there a year's delay? Is it because the minister decided that he needed to go back and think about this? No, it is not. The reason the minister had to delay it for one year is that he could not get it through the Senate. The previous minister and this minister both knew that the numbers were against them. I do hope that the current minister has taken advice from the former minister—that is, do not demon dial the crossbench, do not pay consultants $150,000 to try to get through the door, and do not spend $15 million on an advertising campaign to try and convince the Australian people and the crossbench that they do not have a dud deal in front of them. On our side of parliament, we know that this is a dud deal. The Australian people know that it is a dud deal. Despite the fact that everyone in Australia—apart from the government—knows that this is a dud deal, unfortunately, the government still will not abandon these plans. That is advice that the new minister should take. The new minister should take advice from the Australian people and abandon these plans, but, as of yesterday, he is still backing the plans. Yesterday, Minister Birmingham said on AM Agenda: So what I've said to date is that we will defer the start date on the currently proposed reforms till 2017 … That does not sound like a revolutionary change; that sounds like a mere delay. When asked by Kieran Gilbert whether deregulation could possibly make a comeback, the minister gleefully responded: … that is absolutely what I would hope to do and that is indeed the government's intention … Despite trying to convince the Australian people otherwise, with a bit of sweet talking and some reassuring comments, the plan for 100,000 degrees is still squarely on the table. We do know that they have tried to change the salespeople. In the Education and Training portfolio, we have a new, more cuddly minister than the member for Sturt. One would assume that they did not want to change too much, but we do not have the member for Sturt in the House representing the new Minister for Education and Training; we have the member for Cowper. He has made a sterling contribution on the deregulation debate. In fact, he has not actually mentioned higher education in the higher education debate in this House—not once. We searched, and we searched and we searched, and we could not find. I can see why the government are very desperate to change the salesperson. The member the Sturt regularly got up here and professed the importance of these changes, so I know that the government are desperately trying to change the salesperson, but perhaps they might have appointed someone who is actually interested in higher education and has actually mentioned it in the House. Many among those opposite have indeed mentioned it, but they are trying to keep quiet the fact that they have a plan to bring back $100,000 degrees. Even though they are changing the salespeople, they cannot change the product. In the interim, Labor have announced our plan for higher education. Our plan for higher education is a very important one. It provides a student guarantee for universities so that they have sustainable funding into the future. It boosts quality, investing $31 million for quality teaching and resources, through TEQSA. This is a really important part of ensuring that there is quality in our universities. In addition, we have set an ambitious goal of 20,000 completions by 2020. We have committed to extra completions because it is not good enough just to enrol students into higher education; universities must support them to complete their studies and to get jobs when they graduate. So this has been a very important announcement and piece of work. I must commend the minister for higher education, Senator Kim Carr, for the work that he has done in this area—the shadow minister, sorry. I would like much better for him to be minister than the ministers on the other side. We have not stopped there. A lot of work has been done by the members for Chifley and Blaxland—indeed, by the whole team behind me—on the policy for start-up years at universities, which will ensure that students can develop their idea, get business know-how and support, and study an extra year at university with that support to innovate and take their start-up ideas to market. These are concrete real ideas. These are concrete policies. These are not just a delay of an unfair and unpopular policy that no-one supported. The minister for Sturt—sorry, the member for Sturt— A government member interjecting— Ms RISHWORTH: It is hard to know what his new title is, because he has been moved sideways. Mr Tudge: You are in opposition; we are in government. Ms RISHWORTH: I can only hope that we are in government soon—before you can get your disastrous policy through—because, if you continue to pursue this unfair policy, then in Australia we will see many students worse off and many students not pursuing higher education. The member for Sturt and, indeed, the new minister, continue to profess that they have the support of the universities. The universities do not support their unfair plan. Indeed, Universities Australia have said that it is time to go back to the drawing board to look for a sustainable funding model—and that is exactly what Labor has put up. So I am pleased that the member for Cowper is going to make a contribution, his first contribution, on higher education. I absolutely look forward to that. I hope he will say, 'I have learnt the lessons of the previous minister, the member for Sturt. Me and my minister in the other place will not demon dial crossbench senators and continue to pursue them, and pursue them ruthlessly, to support our unfair policy. I will not spend $15 million— Mr Hartsuyker interjecting— Ms RISHWORTH: You might think it is funny to spend $15 million of taxpayers' money on a piece of legislation that has not passed the House. We on this side of the House do not think it is funny. We do not think it is funny that you waste taxpayers' money on a dud piece of legislation—legislation that was never promised before the last election and that was foisted onto the Australian people. No, we do not support that—and we will talk about it. We have a positive plan. I am very pleased that this next election will be a clear choice between the Labor Party—the party that stands for higher education; the party that stands for accessible higher education and quality higher education that will lead to a job at the end of it—and the other side of the House that does not stand for accessible education, that wants to foist $100,000 degrees on students, that wants to make a 20 per cent cut to university funding to ensure that universities have no choice but to increase their fees and that does not believe that access and equity should be a core part of their higher education policy. Unfortunately, those on the other side will not heed the concerns of the Australian people; they will not listen to the concerns of the Australian people. Well, it is time they started. I offer a hand of friendship to the new minister and to the member for Cowper. They may be struggling for a policy, because what they have announced is a delay to their unfair dud of a policy. Perhaps if they are looking for a policy then, as we have a comprehensive policy—one that has been costed, one that delivers quality, accessibility and that supports student completion—I do not mind if they want to take that policy. I am happy for them to take that policy and ditch their old one. We will welcome that.