Monday 19 August 2002

"The Federal Government has announced a scheme today that would slug Australia's battling TAFE students in order to transfer funds to elite private education and to make up for harsh cutbacks suffered by TAFE in recent years.

The Higher Education paper released by Education Minister, Dr Brendan Nelson today raises the spectre of "Income Contingent Loans" for TAFE students. This is a fancy term for HECS-style fees being introduced into TAFE, which might eventually spread to the nation's 1.3 million TAFE students, if the experience of HECS in universities is any indicator.

This Federal government has slashed $300 million from TAFE funding in recent years. At the same time, billions of dollars in taxpayers' funds have been transferred to rich private schools by the same government. Now ordinary Australians who rely on TAFE to build a future for themselves are to be asked to take out "Income Contingent Loans" in order to get employment skills and qualifications.

Dr Nelson announced on 4 June that there was "No Commonwealth Plan to Introduce HECS in TAFE" yet now he sponsors proposals which will lead to massively increased fees even for TAFE diploma courses. The Howard government has to find $4.5 billion every year to give to elite private schools. It seems now that TAFE students are to be hit to help make up that amount.

This government has a shameful record on public education. The previous minister for Education, the disgraced Dr David Kemp, attacked public schools and cared only for the privileged. Now it seems they are moving against the nation's TAFE system and TAFE students."