EDUCATION
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Keep a lid on uni costs Students take to the streets to protest deregulation of tertiary education fees • AMELIA PARROTT _
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@amelia_parroU
o ifs, no buts, no education cuts was the battle cry last Wednesday as around 200 students from the University of Newcastle took to the streets in protest of the Abbott Government's changes to the tertiary education sector. Students were among the hardest hit by Treasurer Joe Hockey's maiden Federal budget and now face higher course fees and higher interest on student loans. Music composition student and one of the organisers of the demonstration, James Mahr feared the deregulation of university fees would push disadvantaged students out of universities. "When you have deregulation like we've seen in America, you'll see university fees rise exponentially to the whims of the universities," he said. "It means that [fees] can go through the roof and once university fees start costing $100,000 or $200,000, it will be a huge deterrent for people from low sodo-economic backgrounds to access higher education." Member for Newcastle, Sharon Claydon was concerned by the $170 million reduction in funding for equity programs. "We have the highest number of
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University of Newcastle students march In protest of changes to tertiary education funding
indigenous students of any university in Australia [and] 26.3 per cent of our students at Newcastle come from low sodo-economic backgrounds, when the national average is about 16 per cent," she explained. "It's this commitment to equity that is at stake by these sorts of cuts."
Newcastle City Council Greens coundllor Therese Doyle said "unfair competition from private providers" could have devastating impact on conditions for both students and academic staff at universities, as it did on TAFEs. "With universities able to charge whatever they like for fees, what is going to happen to regional univer-
sities like [the University of Newcastle]," she asked. "As far as the Greens go, we believe all Australians are entitled to a free, wellfunded and high-quality, lifelong education and training." The Labor and the Greens have both stated they will vote against the changes.
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