NONE of the Senate crossbenchers invited to next week’s higher education forum in Wodonga will turn up.
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Victorian senator Ricky Muir has withdrawn at the last moment.
Australian Motoring Enthusiasts’ Senator Muir had planned to attend the February 2 forum, but an adviser has told The Border Mail he could no longer make it and would send a staff member instead.
The eight Senate crossbenchers — the key to the government’s attempts to get its university reforms through the chamber — were invited to the forum at La Trobe, along with a host of federal MPs.
Senator Muir this week challenged Education Minister Christopher Pyne, who will send a representative to the forum, to take his reforms, including deregulation, to the next election.
Meanwhile Senator Nick Xenophon, who also will be missing, praised the forum’s organisers while calling for a “root and branch” review of the tertiary sector.
A spokesman for Senator Jacqui Lambie said she would not attend because she was meeting Tasmania University representatives that day to discuss issues likely to be on the agenda at the Border forum.
Senators David Leyonhjelm, Bob Day, Nick Xenophon and John Madigan will also miss — Senator Madigan is sending his senior adviser.
The forum, which is open to the public, will be hosted by La Trobe and Charles Sturt University, along with Indi MP Cathy McGowan.
It is a chance for MPs academics, students and the community to speak freely on the challenges facing regional tertiary education.
Among those attending will be Victorian Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie, who chaired the Senate committee on higher education reforms.
“I think it’s great there’s a chance to have a conversation about this and dismantle the myths,” she said.
“It’s really been a scare campaign instead of the facts.
“Reform is the next natural step in the evolution of our higher education system and one where we need to get the balance right.”
Ms McGowan said the forum would be broad-ranging with “no pre-conceived views or outcomes arrived at before the forum”.
“Regional Australia often experiences the unintended consequences of legislation,” Ms McGowan said.
“This forum is a way of identifying whether there will be unintended consequences from deregulation of the sector, and how these can be avoided.
“Following the forum I will be taking the outcomes to Canberra.”