Politics

As The Cost Of Arts Degrees Doubles, Here’s All The Liberal Politicians Who Got Free University

Mehree Faruqi has got the receipts

by Rachael Conaghan  19 June 2020
scott morrison university

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This morning, the government announced they would be attempting to push university students into more “employable” fields by slashing the cost of some courses and doubling the cost of others.

Funnily enough, it’s the humanities degrees that are set for the biggest jump in price — a massive 113 percent increase.

That decision will push the discipline into the highest price band, and means a lot more debt for people interesting in studying things like media, history, philosophy, politics and arts.

While everyone like to make the same jokes about arts graduates and baristers/bartenders/ whatever else, those degrees are held by some of the most powerful people in our country.

Not to mention, a large part of the degree revolves around critical thinking, transferable skills and understanding the world around us.

People interested in nursing, psychology, English, languages, teaching, agriculture, maths, science, health, environmental science or architecture — congratulations.

All those subjects are set to become slightly cheaper, with the government deciding to cover some of the costs.

It’s a tiny bone being thrown to a sector that has had been gutted by funding cuts over the last few years, and then denied bailout funding to help them through the coronavirus pandemic.

Of course, the irony of this is that quite a large chunk of the politicians making these decisions got to enjoy a free university education.

University fees were abolished in 1974 as part of a push to make higher education more accessible. Apparently it soon became too accessible, because in 1989 the government wound this back by introducing HECS.

But for a period of time, thousands of university students were able to enjoy a free education that they’ve since denied to the next generation.

After this morning’s announcement, Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi gathered those receipts and put them together in one glorious Twitter thread.

First up, Scott Morrison — he is one of several Prime Ministers who enjoyed a free education. Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull also reaped the benefits.

Our Foreign Minister also benefited from a free arts degree — the very one that is about to skyrocket in price.

Barnaby Joyce, Angus Taylor and Christian Porter also made the list. As a collective they’ve dismissed climate change as a hoax, been caught up in the middle of a federal investigation for using fake data, and written anti-discrimination laws that clearly discriminate against LGBTIQ people — maybe they needed a bit more of that.

Michaelia Cash, Paul Fletcher, Eric Abetz, Dean Smith and Concetta Fierravanti-Wells also studied some form of arts — all up, 16 current Coalition members were put on blast by Faruqi.

 

It’s worth checking out the full thread to see which politicians are happy to deny a service that they benefited from.