Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

I just do not feel that the member for Fowler's heart was in that question. Obviously, it was his turn to turn up and ask a foolish question without the facts, but I will deal with it. On the Americanisation issue that Labor raises—I explained this yesterday to the member for Lalor but I will explain it again—the United States does not have a higher education loan program. It does not bear any relation to the Australian system in how it supports its students. The idea that the government's reforms are making our system more like that of the United States is an absolute falsehood. The bizarre thing about the point is, imagine if the Australian university system was as successful as the United States system. The United States has 27 universities in the top 50 universities in the world. More than half of the top 50 universities in the world are in the United States. Apparently, America is the bogeyman of universities—

Ms Rishworth interjecting—

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