Thread by @armagny

1. I am going to start an endless thread calling for the uni fee increases to be undone.

It will start very respectful. I’m very hopeful @JasonClareMP et al will do the right thing, on this and many other issues.

But I will not let the issue slide away like last time.

2. My welcome to government let’s get it done greeting belongs in this endless thread:

3. And this one. That the LNP did this to our kids and young adults despite what they went through the past couple of years was intolerable.

But I know Labor know this and anticipate a fix is close.

4. Happy to hijack silly hashtags like #ThisIsNotJournalism - if Labor twitter is out and about policing the ABC, it can also pause to politely ask its heroes to undo the uni fee hikes.

STAT.

More to come in this ongoing thread x

5. What’s the problem with uni fees in #auspol ?

$43,500 arts degrees in particular (though I’ll come back to law…).

A flagrantly ideological move against the study of the history, politics, art and philosophy that make our society what it is (and consider what it could be).

6. Lawyers aren’t all rich. Law is crucial for access to justice. Lawyers working for legal aid / community orgs typically get less than $100k. Prosecutors & gov slightly more.

Punitive uni fees deter poor kids from applying but also deter grads from doing public interest work.

7. The way to recover fair contributions from people who go to uni and get wealthy is not hitting all students with exorbitant US-style fees.

It’s a novel public policy mechanism called ‘tax’.

This is literally what progressive tax does.

Undo the fee hikes now pls.

TBC…

8. Good morning. Welcome to my continuously-growing thread on why Labor needs to reverse the uni fee hikes.

Here’s a reminder Rebekha Sharkie sold out kids around the country who’ve been through so much - especially in NSW and Vic - for trinkets for South Australia.

#auspol

9. And for contrast, a reminder @JacquiLambie had no problem seeing the wood for the trees on this issue.

Undo the fee hikes now please Labor, and a happy Monday to you all. #auspol #education

10. Lambie’s clarity:

“If the tools it takes to win are only available to the well-off, they'll keep winning and we'll keep losing and the divide between the rich and poor will keep getting greater.”

Welcome to my ongoing fee-hike-reversal thread! ALP..

speakola.com/political/jacq…

11. Per @beneltham:

"Striking at the humanities strikes at the heart of university education. The arts, humanities and social science disciplines compose the very foundation of “higher” education..."

He even quotes Liberal icon Robert Menzies:

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

12. “Let me defend a so-called useless scholarship on the great grounds that it represents a sanity badly needed in an insane world" ... “the mere mechanics of life can never be the sole vocation of the human spirit”.

Quite so. Drop those fees now pls Labor #auspol #education

13. Great to see Labor building a new $50 million campus in Cairns. As Jason gets out and about with the chequebook, I popped a gentle reminder in the comments that we also need fee cuts. The right thing to do isn't always flashy. #education #auspol

14. The approach of pushing undergrads into 'job ready' courses & punishing humanities students goes against the model unis have been adopting: broad education followed by a shorter, intense grad dip or degree to specialise.

Drop the #HECS #fees pls #Labor #auspol #universities

15. Great response to my thread @jessamy_sesame the answer of course being no, they do not want students - wealthy dilettantes aside - taking Indigenous Studies, or political science, philosophy, history or anything overly critical of the status quo.

16. Happy Friday, welcome to my unending thread calling for the recent huge uni fee hikes to be undone by #labor #auspol.

Get angry reading @MehreenFaruqi's thread of LNP politicians who appear to have received free degrees then pulled the ladder up:

17. & @bairdjulia's tweet of Cabinet members and former leaders with Arts degrees.

A reminder of how important a broad humanities education can be. They want it for their own wealthy scions, just not for the plebs (us & our kids).

Fee cuts now pls #ALP

18. Good morning this fine Monday #auspol, welcome to my unending cut-uni-fees thread.

Reminder; why the #LNP doesn’t want large number of people with humanities degrees:

“The biggest drivers of people’s votes were education levels and age.” amp.theguardian.com/australia-news…

19. Happy hump day.

Let’s get students over the hump in their youthful finances by reversing the indefensible fee hikes.

Unless Labor support $40,000+ arts degrees? I’m sure you don’t @JasonClareMP @tanya_plibersek @AlboMP so let’s go :)

20. Vingt! Dua Puluh! XX!

Twenty tweets into my unending thread calling on Labor to undo the gouging #university fee increases brought in by the LNP.

Let’s go @JasonClareMP you know you want this.

#auspol #AusPol2022 #HECS #education

21. The ascent of ignorance and theocracy in the US is a reminder of the importance of sharing a rich, critical education as far and wide as possible.

#ALP #labor #education #Theocracy #WomensRightsAreHumanRights

22. Another Monday & the LNP’s anti intellectual uni fee hikes still aren’t on the chopping block.

Why aren’t Labor moving on this?

Why are their twitter army - yes I’m talking to many of you my friends - not actively calling for this?

#auspoI

23. Ditto @MoistenedTart - as is the case for so many politicians and members of the voting public who are now prepared to pull the ladder up behind them.

Let’s not let this slip into a dusty folder like it did under Labor 07-13.

#universities #education #AusPol2022

24. Another Monday, well into winter now & we still haven't heard that clear timeline for reducing the class-warfare-grade #university fee increases the last government shoved through with the help of the 'Centre' Alliance.

Quick sticks #auspol #AusPol2022 #education #albo

25. To state the obvious, when Alan Tudge calls on Labor to keep his class-warfare anti-intellectual Australia-become-America fee gouges, it's time to undo them.

STAT #labor, STAT. #auspol #AusPol2022 #education #universities

26. Reminder - Labor said failing to oppose the fee hikes is 'Cowardly'.

"Labor education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek says university chiefs backing the Morrison government's major funding reforms are cowardly and they have betrayed students..."
smh.com.au/politics/feder…

27. "Labor has not stated a policy on this, instead it will hold an Accord summit to discuss the future of the uni sector."

Terrible insipid procrastination. See previous tweet!

#auspol #AusPol2022 #albanese #ALP #education

theguardian.com/australia-news…

28. “The humanities help us understand who we are…”

Has Labor announced it’s undoing the $40k+ arts degrees yet?

#auspol certainly doesn’t need this knowledge reserved for wealthy LNP-voting scions.

29. Good morning twitter.

A beautiful, crisp winter’s day here in Melbourne, perfect for Labor to match its past rhetoric and current actions by chopping back those maliciously expensive humanities and law degrees.

#AusPol2022
#auspol
#education

30. Jokes aside, if we don’t want people believing implausible nonsense, give them a broad education and do it for less than $14k a year @JasonClareMP @AlboMP you know it makes sense #Labor #auspol

31. New governments are responsible for laws under their control and can’t blame predecessors while pocketing the money.

👉🏼 The quick backflip on #COVID19Aus #pandemic payments is appropriate.

👉🏼 So is revisiting the $45,000 arts degrees the LNP imposed on our kids.

Albo?

32. "Poverty draft" is forcing the poor & working classes into the military by doing the American thing - low welfare & high college fees.

This is not what #auspol should be about! Yet $45,000 arts degrees....?

#feecutsnow pls #labor! @JasonClareMP?

teenvogue.com/story/the-mili…

33. Albo says he won’t waste a day!

Fantastic - let’s get this done and immediately undo the obscene US-style uni fees @tanya_plibersek said it was cowardly not to oppose.

#Parliament #labor #auspol #dontdoa2007

34. If you can trip over yourself to repay the CFMEU and immediately gut the Australian Building and Construction Commission

(maybe somewhat justified, but clearly a point & click expectation from the union)

then you can undo the $14K+/yr humanities & law degrees. #auspol

35. Saw multiple Labor fan accounts popping a vein about female ABC presenters this morning and not one calling for Labor to cut uni fees, which are up over $40k for many degrees now.

What on earth is the matter with people’s priorities?

#auspol #education

36. Let’s keep making fun of Scomo - ‘Look here’s a photo of him sitting in Parliament haha’ - instead of holding Labor to account for the venally bad policies it’s quietly holding on to and pocketing the cash from.

Like miserly social security, or $14k+/yr uni fees.

#auspol

37. Good Thursday morning twitter.

Albo has been in power since 23 May, it’s now 11 August.

Yet the US style exorbitant uni fees haven’t been reduced.

@tanya_plibersek said it was ‘gutless’ to support the increases in 2020 so why aren’t they being undone?

#auspol #education

38. Happy Monday people. Still waiting for Labor to undo the right wing anti-intellectual uni fee hikes that made arts degrees $45,000.

For this, as for other essentials like ⏏️ social security, there is certainly money in the economy.

Policy is always a decision. #auspol

39. Hump day. Labor's so far kept:

- Almost$15,000/yr arts and law degrees
- almost every mean & inadequate aspect of the social security system
- Tax cuts for the rich.

#MorrisonGate #MinisterForEverything is important, but so's this and #scomo ain't in power any more Toto...

40. While I’m all for holding Scott Morrison to account, it’s worth remembering he’s not in power & doesn’t give 5 trucks, while meanwhile the actual government is quietly pocketing the dosh from policies that gouge our young people for wanting an #education.

Cut fees now #alp

41. What a day to turn 50.

Sun is out, sky is blue, it’s beautiful so #labor let’s undo the $45,000 arts degrees stat.

You don’t even need to gift wrap it.

42. HECS is trending, @AmyRemeikis is on the war path and yet Labor are still pocketing the almost $15k a year uni fees and - somehow! - ignoring my unending thread calling for change.

Well, I'm fifty, fabulous and not going anywhere @JasonClareMP so c'mon let's do this.

43. Pointless calling for full HECS forgiveness when @AlboMP @JasonClareMP #alp #labor haven't started lowering the LNP's huge fee increases.

Almost $15K/yr degrees is US style nuttery
& if people don't start making noise Labor will pocket the dosh & move on.

See 2007...

44. So it’s 100 days in office for @AlboMP & #labor tomorrow and

‘“After a wasted decade, we are not wasting a day,” Albanese will say, according to excerpts of his draft speech.’

Good. Stop wasting time at the expense of the young and cut HECS fees stat. #auspol

45. Labor seems to be joining the LNP/business lobby ethos of pushing the masses into ‘work ready’ courses while preserving humanities, law &c for the privileged.

A self defeating failure to recognise the link btw an educated population & a progressive one #JobsSummit #labor

46. Just another Friday morning call for #labor #alp to cut #University #hecs fees.

The silence around the issue is appalling.

$45,000+ degrees - are @AlboMP @JasonClareMP @tanya_plibersek really happy with this? C’mon.

47. Happy Mondays twitter, press pause on complaining about the ABC for a minute to ask @AlboMP to cut university fees #auspol #JobsSummit #education

48. Cool, #auspol government moving faster to preserve the right to watch footy than to make degrees affordable. #education #university #HECS

49. “Another recurrent suggestion in many of the submissions was to overturn the previous government’s increase to the cost of humanities degrees”

Quite so. C’mon Labor.

amp.theguardian.com/culture/2022/s…

50. Half century in this unending thread - still asking why Labor are refusing to reduce uni fees. #auspol #education

amp.theguardian.com/australia-news…

51. “Australians … pay comparatively high tuition fees for their tertiary education, the report finds.”

Bringing the worst of Australia’s #university fees back down to 1990s (adjusted) levels should be a no brainer priority for #Labor #ALP #auspol

amp.smh.com.au/education/educ…

52. “Reliance on private funding is particularly stark at the tertiary level, where Australia’s share of private expenditure reaches 66 per cent, compared with the OECD average of 31 per cent.” (Link above)

#education #highered #universities #auspol #hecs