Broken promises and lipstick on pigs

The Rudd Government’s plan to introduce a compulsory fee for amenities at Universities is another in a growing list of broken promises, Christopher Pyne, Shadow Minister for Education said today.

“It was only a year ago, before the 2007 election, that the Labor Opposition ruled out a compulsory fee, and ruled out a HECS-style system to fund it,” Mr Pyne said.

Former Labor Education Spokesperson Stephen Smith said:

      I’m not considering a compulsory HECS style arrangement and the whole basis of the approach is one of a voluntary approach. So I am not contemplating a compulsory amenities fee.

“With Kate Ellis’ announcement today of a compulsory amenities fee and a HECS style arrangement to fund it in the form of Student Amenities HELP, we see, once again, Labor will say and do anything to get elected,” Mr Pyne said.

“And with Ms Ellis and Ms Gillard both being former Student Union Presidents, the Coalition is extremely sceptical about the details of this plan – details that haven’t yet been written,” he said.

“What we do know is that Labor wants to have a compulsory fee, imposed on students for services they don’t necessarily use, and a HECS style system to fund them.

“We have shaky promises from Ms Ellis that no funding will reach union coffers, and we have excited media statements from the National Union of Students who can’t wait to get their hands on these compulsory fees.

“Meanwhile Ms Ellis’ own materials don’t provide the definite answers: answers to who gets the money, how it is to be managed, what the guidelines will be, or what the money can be used for.

“All of this, Ms Ellis says in her press release, is subject to negotiation with students and universities. The plan sounds like a pig with lipstick to me. It’s still a pig,” Mr Pyne said.

3 November 2008

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