Things will not go as smoothly for Abbott as they did for Howard. There's no great big boom pool of money for him to waste on pork barrelling under the guise of prudent economic management.

I hate the Socialist Alternative wankers (couldnt even get the banner the right way round on the show tonight) at Monash, they have turned a lot more uni students to Liberal than the left.

On the protest, while I hated having the show cut, and really just the banner would have made the point, there is no member of the government who can have any issue with free political speech in action. Brandis would be pleased I'm sure.

Pyne has been getting more and more articulate since coming into government, but tonight he didn't make a lick of sense and took two steps back. Pyne talked all about the previous government and vague incoherent notions of what may happen in the future. Whereas Burke in her typical fashion was very blunt and upfront with her views and focussed on what her party has done and hopes to do, I appreciate that in opposition she is given more liberty but talking about what she can do rather than what the govt is doing was a breath of fresh air.

One last thing, either everyone is dead against the Liberals education policy or the ABC was very left leaning in choosing questioners tonight, usually a lot more balanced than that.

Was it really The Socialist Alternative, or is that just a label people are using to marginalise the message?

I just want to know when did the free university thing die ??? And why did it get booted .

It was . As there were two people on qanda who asked questions

QCoal's James Mackay developing environmental policy for Newman Government in Queensland
By the National Reporting Team's Mark Solomons and Mark Willacy

The head of corporate affairs for a mining company at the centre of an environmental dispute has been in charge of developing policy on the environment for Queensland's ruling Liberal National Party (LNP) since 2012.

James Mackay also worked full-time for the LNP during the 2012 election, while he was being paid $10,000 a month by the company, QCoal.

QCoal is embroiled in controversy over plans to divert Coral Creek in north Queensland to mine the coal underneath.

The company's owner, reclusive billionaire Chris Wallin, is one of the LNP's biggest donors.

The ABC's 7.30 program revealed last week that farmer Garry Reed faces financial ruin after losing a legal battle to stop the creek diversion and having costs awarded against him.

The diversion was approved by the State Government without requiring a new or amended environmental impact assessment, despite being classed as an assessment that carried "risk of serious harm".

Mr Mackay has chaired the LNP's state environment and heritage protection committee, which develops policy for discussion at the party's annual conference, since being voted on to the committee in 2012.

Shortly after coming to power in 2012 the LNP introduced a bill to remove "green tape" or what it considered to be unnecessary or superfluous environmental regulation.

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman said at the time that the state was "in the coal business" and if people wanted new schools and hospitals they had to accept that the state needed royalties from coal mining.

QCoal boss Mr Wallin gave $120,000 to the party in two donations just before the 2012 state election.

One of those donations was for the loan of Mr Mackay to the LNP between January and March 2012.

A funding disclosure to the Australian Electoral Commission shows QCoal described the $30,750 donation to the LNP on March 23, 2012, as "an administrative staff member donated in kind".

According to a spokesman for the LNP, Mr Mackay's role involved ensuring that the party met disclosure requirements for donations.

Water Minister Mark McArdle met Mackay 'to discuss QCoal'

Mr Mackay's LinkedIn profile shows him starting work as corporate affairs manager for QCoal at the same time as he began his three-month stint at the LNP, a role he describes as "campaign finance director".

He is shown in ministerial diaries as having represented QCoal at a "QForum luncheon" on February 19 this year. QForum is a fund-raising venture for the LNP at which attendees pay thousands of dollars to the party to mix with government ministers or their guest speakers.

The diary for Energy and Water Minister Mark McArdle shows he met Mr Mackay on March 22 last year "to discuss QCoal". The diary provided no other details.

A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Water Supply said: "It was a general discussion about QCoal. The meeting was one of five brief 'meet and greets' held in just over an hour during the afternoon on a visit to Rockhampton. Mining developments do not fall under the Minister's portfolio responsibilities".

Mr Mackay also worked as campaign manager for Transport Minister Scott Emerson MP during the 2009 state election.

QCoal did not respond to detailed questions about its links to the LNP or Mr Mackay's role working for the party, citing employee privacy, and Mr Mackay did not return a call seeking comment.

The LNP spokesman said there was "no conflict of interest involving Mr Mackay, who has disclosed his employment with his company".

The spokesman said that since Mr Mackay became chairman of the committee it had suggested policy ideas on animal and land conservation, environmental protection and an animal ambulance service.

Mr Wallin, a former chief geologist in the Queensland Mines Department, is thought to be the state's richest man, with a personal fortune estimated by the Sunday Mail newspaper at $1.8 billion.

He has declined repeated requests for an interview and the company has declined to provide another representative.

The superintendent of the Sonoma mine, David Nebauer, physically intervened to try to stop 7.30 filming the mine site from a public roadway, without explanation.

QCoal won a water licence from the State Government to divert Coral Creek to extend the life of its Sonoma mine by six to eight months.

An expert working for Mr Reed, Dr Scott Rayburg of Victoria's Swinburne University, has warned of environmental risks lasting for "several human lifetimes".

But the Queensland Land Court rejected much of Dr Rayburg's evidence because he is not a registered engineer in the state.

Mr Reed and his supporters took on the coal company because it had initially promised not to touch the creek. The diversion was not included in its previous applications for approval for the mine and residents said they were told in a public meeting that the creek would be left alone.

Mr Reed argues the diversion risks damaging rare remnant vegetation and the aquifer beneath Coral Creek, on which he relies for half his water.

Independent lobbyists have been required to register details of their companies and clients in Queensland since regulation was tightened up after a series of scandals under the Bligh government.

But there is no requirement for "in-house" lobbyists or employees who work in government relations to register.

The LNP is set to introduce changes to the rules on political donations to that would remove upper limits and raise the threshold for the disclosure of individual gifts.

Pyne just looked and acted cocky. He is usually great on qanda but I think tonight he got rattled. I think also most people are dead set against the education reforms that the government are planing on .

most people coming out of uni these days are dumb f**ks anyway as anyone get it into uni now
throwing more money at unis isnt going to solve the problem

1974 - 1989.

Hawke brought in HECS at the behest of Dawkins, then Howard upped the ante in 1996.

Now Abbott, Pyne and their IPA overlords want to fucky the waters and Americanise the system further.

Yeah who'd want sub par institutions like Princeton and Harvard when we have world leading universities like USQ and James Cook, the envy of the world. 19 out of the top 50 universities in the world are in fact American, they must be doing something right.

Don't knock JCU mate, place is fucking awesome.

-PB

If JCU is awesome imagine how good the American universities must be. It might be trendy to knock everything American but it doesn't make it empirically true.

People against upping uni fees need a reality check. It's Australia's highest debt. Half the people I know have studied more than 1 degree and finished neither.

They need to be a lot tougher on people who switch courses or make studying their career. We can't keep allowing people to rack up huge loans with nothing coming back in. It's not sustainable.

Yeah because switching courses is just an Australian thing? Not exactly easy deciding what you want to do for the rest of your life at 18-19 years old. Not as if the debt gets wiped either from previous courses of study so don't really see the point you are making here. It also does come back in. You pay it when you start working full time, in a job that your degree has got you. Most people with higher education will be earning more then those without one which means a higher taxable income anyway.

Make life tougher on people who choose to study? Jesus fucking christ. People complain about education in this country and then you get comments like that. Hard enough as it is studying full time plus trying to get work in as well as having some sort of social balance.

Out of interest, how much does the government lose in tertiary education from those who don't pay their HECS debt?

My HECS debt is about 50 grand. But I'm now paying it back as I'm working. I would be interested to know the number of people who don't end up paying their HECS debt.

OutThe worst thing we could ever do is create a class divide between those who can afford education and those who can't. Maybe we just need to not have uni degrees that are a complete wank and a waste of time?

People against upping uni fees need a reality check. It's Australia's highest debt. Half the people I know have studied more than 1 degree and finished neither.

They need to be a lot tougher on people who switch courses or make studying their career. We can't keep allowing people to rack up huge loans with nothing coming back in. It's not sustainable.

Don't play that crap. People need to take more responsibility for their decisions instead of picking something for the sake of going to uni. That's what i'm getting at. That, and people who study everything because 'they're not sure.' People should have until 4 semesters in to firm up their choice. If they want to change after that, they should pay for it. People who perform poorly should also have to pay up front. HELP is to pay for results, not for kids to have a good time and f*ck about.
Huh? You have basically just agreed with what I said. I mentioned it being difficult to choose what you want to do in your first year or so and then you said you should have up to 4 semesters(being two years) to choose:-k . Punishing people for failing is also stupid. Take engineering for example. There is obviously , and for good reason , some hard as fuck units. Just because someone fails a unit or two does not mean they are never going to finish there unit and even become high earning and successful. Majority of unis have a good standing anyway. If you do terribly in succession they will kick you out.


I finished uni 3 years ago and the culture was ridiculous. Too many people chose engineering for something to do and ended up dropping out. That's the problem. I'm all for everyone attending uni, but only if they're there for the right reasons and not because they thought uni would be alright. My cousin has completed 3 years of two different 4 year courses. It's wrong. She owes the government $60k and is working a low paying job because she couldn't decide if she wanted to finish uni and become a psychologist or not.
Just because you know an extreme case does not mean they are all like that. I agree with you on that being ridiculous but there is a limit on the help you get. Pretty sure once you into a 7th year you have to start paying yourself. Not as if her debt is going away either , which is also an asset to the government. Don't punish the majority because of people like your cousin.

Using the age card doesn't cut it. The government isn't paying for good times or a bit of life experience in every degree under the sun. They're paying for results and a skilled work force. People tend to forget how much of a privilege HELP actually is.
Talking out of your ass now. HELP is giving them a skilled work force. Unlike the yank system which is turning potential skilled workers away.

Wow, 50 grand is pretty high. What did you study?



But where will people go to learn about gender/*insert ethnic minority* studies or 12th century medieval poetry?

Talking out of your ass now. HELP is giving them a skilled work force. Unlike the yank system which is turning potential skilled workers away.

We shouldn't turn anyone away but the government shouldn't tolerate people who are indecisive or don't take uni seriously. They need to be a lot tougher than they are currently.

Did I hear correctly that they're talking now about having to pay back your uni debt now as soon as you hit minimum wage? That should make a few people think twice about chopping and changing degrees every 5 minutes.