The government’s bid to abolish compulsory student union fees passed through Federal Parliament tonight after the Family First Senator, Steve Fielding, voted with the majority.

My opinion was with Nationals Senator, Barnaby Joyce, that non-political fees for student services should be retained. This would have meant ongoing funds for student sporting clubs, arts groups, etc. The Labor Party seemed to be accepting a compromise along these lines as well.

I feel the bill was inspired more by Liberal ideology than a practical need to reform, similar to the industrial relations changes. Senator Joyce said:

"This was driven by a cabal of people … who are driving this issue out of some sort of political nirvana that they want to achieve rather than out of the impacts that this will have on the ground.

We could have got rid of compulsory student unionism, we could have made sure that the funding mechanisms for political purposes had been stopped and we could have also preserved what a university is. I don’t think this is a great statement for us to finish the year off on."

I don’t support Labor, but I like what Senator Joyce is doing. It’s a shame the Family First Senator didn’t join him in brokering a compromise on this issue.