Education, funding cuts, university
Q. The Government is proposing to increase student fees for university education by 7.5% over 4 years and cut University funding by 2.8 per cent. To what extent do you agree with these statements about the proposed changes?
| Total agree | Total disagree | Strongly agree | Agree | Neither agree nor disagree | Disagree | Strongly disagree | Don’t know | ||
| The changes are needed to reduce the Federal Budget Deficit | 34% | 41% | 11% | 23% | 17% | 21% | 20% | 7% | |
| These changes will make it harder for young people to enter the housing market | 53% | 22% | 24% | 29% | 18% | 15% | 7% | 6% | |
| Universities have plenty of funding. They can absorb a cut without it damaging the quality of education. | 37% | 30% | 10% | 27% | 23% | 18% | 12% | 9% | |
| With university fees up, penalty rates reduced, and housing affordability becoming harder, young people have cause to feel they are under attack. | 61% | 17% | 29% | 32% | 17% | 10% | 7% | 5% | |
| University education should be free for all Australians, just like it is for primary and secondary school | 45% | 29% | 24% | 21% | 20% | 19% | 10% | 5% | |
| These changes will make it harder for Australia to become more innovative. | 49% | 21% | 23% | 26% | 21% | 14% | 7% | 7% | |
| A government that cuts university funding while delivering business a tax cut has the wrong priorities | 57% | 16% | 32% | 25% | 21% | 10% | 6% | 6% |
The most widely agreed with statement was “With university fees up, penalty rates reduced, and housing affordability becoming harder, young people have cause to feel they are under attack”. Those most likely to agree with this statement were Greens voters (82%) and ALP voters (76%). Those most likely to disagree were those aged 65+ (28% disagree) and Liberal/National voters (27%).
The most widely disagreed with statement was “The changes are needed to reduce the Federal Budget Deficit”. Those most likely to disagree with this statement were also Greens voters (73% disagree) and ALP voters (54%). Those most likely to agree were also Liberal/National voters (54% agree) and those aged 65+ (49%).