The Oppositions new Higher Education Policy

Labor Party Correspondence to members ( Bill Shorten Labor Leader)

If you work hard and get good marks you should have the opportunity to go to university — no matter what your bank balance is.

With two in every three jobs of the future expected to require a degree, I want to see more Australians go to university. And importantly, finish university with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed, not a debt sentence.

That’s why today I’ve announced Labor's positive plan for more graduates, not $100,000 degrees — because that's the investment our economy needs for the future.

Investing in education is the single most important thing we can do to maintain and grow Australia’s prosperity, and secure the jobs of the future.

That's why we will introduce a new Student Funding Guarantee that will see a greater investment in every student - $11,800 per student in 2018 compared with $9,300 under the Liberals.

You can read the full detail of our plan here. But this is my main point — unlike the Liberals, we will always ensure access to university is based on hard work and good marks, not someone’s ability to pay.

Because although we may have a new Prime Minister, we have the same old policies. Malcolm Turnbull has cut deals to get the job and he's already said he supports Tony Abbott’s plan for $100,000 university degrees. The only way we can stop $100,000 degrees is to change the government.

We can— along with our policy for 100,000 students to study science, technology, engineering and maths debt free — make sure students have a quality education that supports them to succeed and to build the high-skilled, high-wage jobs of the future.

I made it clear in my first Budget Reply that higher education would be an election issue and today I delivered on my promise to you.