Australian Greens Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has said that the proposed final version of the Job-Ready Graduates legislation has worsened the bill, not improved it.
Senator Faruqi said:
"The amended package fixes none of the fatal flaws of the Tehan bill.
"In fact, the Nationals have made things worse for students and universities alike, with even larger fee increases and funding cuts baked into the bill to benefit a few students.
"Government funding for places in courses like education, English, maths and allied health has been slashed by $250 per place.
"113 per cent fee increases have become 117 per cent increases for the vast majority of humanities and communications students, all thanks to the Nationals. The collective impact of this will be hundreds of millions in extra debt.
"The Nationals might have enjoyed striking this grubby deal but it has only worsened what was already a dud bill," she said.
