National Union of Students Conference Hosts Stoush Between Senators Rhiannon and Cameron. (July 6, 2012)

The Australian's Julie Hare was present at the National Union of Students conference at the University of Technology, Sydney yesterday where Greens senator Lee Rhiannon told the students that it was "a no-brainer" that removing caps on the number of students who could enrol meant more resources were required. "But the issue of more resources has not been addressed by the Labor government." She went on to say that students needed to raise "a strong voice" to call attention to the funding shortfalls, that it couldn't just be left "up to the vice-chancellors and finance managers to decide how staff numbers will be allocated" to manager decreasing resources.

She then suggested that Greens and Labor could "obviously work together more closely on [higher education policy], especially with the spectre of an Abbott government". At which point the feisty Labor Senator bristled and in good Glaswegian tones told her he was "sick and tired of the pontification, stupidity and intransigence of the Greens". "I'm not here to be lectured by you about working together," but he did support the call that students needed to find a common voice and to oppose a possible Abbott government "which is the biggest threat to the defunding of higher education".

However, according to the Group of Eight's No. 27 Backgrounder:

• Considering growth in the scale of the sector, universities are not much better off than they were in 1996.

• The funding data does not suggest that universities have done markedly better under governments of either political party.

• Rather, the data points to the limits of any government’s fiscal capacity to maintain adequate levels of funding to sustain quality in a post-mass higher education system.

But then what would they know?