In this, an election year, Labor leader Kim Beazley has unveiled one of his key planks - a visionary University of Australia Online, the foundation stone of his so-called Knowledge Nation.
The Labor Opposition says one of the key ingredients of its Knowledge Nation is more tertiary students. To that end, it announced a lofty online university proposal which will create 100,000 additional places and slash teritary fees in half.
"One may well ask, 'where has the government been for the last five years?'" Beazley said in an address to the National Press Club.
"Whilst our competitors around the world have invested in science and technology our government is only now planning to act. But as Einstein said, 'no problem can be solved by the same thinking that created it'."
Punitive university fees has meant that tertiary education in past has been reserved for the few, according to the Australian Labor Party (ALP) leader.
"Howard made that government policy," he said. "Driving Australian students out of universities is only a day's work for the Howard Government."
However, online education will "unlock the door of opportunity for many thousands of Australians," Beazley added.
Fees slashed, studies online
Students will have the opportunity to complete all or some of their course online, with online units incurring half the fees levied against other students.
The ALP says the bold plan will allow those who can't afford not to work to study simultaneously. An additional 100,000 places will accommodate more students looking to continue into tertiary education.
Online tertiary learning will also create new academic jobs in Australia and slow down the "brain drain" of scholastic professionals, Beazley said.
"We know our university teachers and researchers are the best in the world now we can prove it."The address also included a swipe at the Coalition's digital policies, with Beazley accusing the Howard government of being unable to embrace digital innovation.
He pointed to what he called the government's "incompetent IT outsourcing strategy", the advent of digital TV which "blasted off without any available set-top boxes for sale" and as well as the government's "crippled" datacasting industry.
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"Online education is already here, we must adopt it," Beazley said. "Unlike this government though, we can actually do it."
Where's the money?
Although today marked the unveiling of Beazley's plans to establish the University of Australia Online, what he kept the total cost of his vision tightly under wraps.
"Online education is not education on the cheap," Beazley conceded.
There will be substantial up-front costs involved and the total cost would be determined by "the scale and pace of its introduction" as well as by the Budget - which the government won't announce until well into the election campaign, he said.
"This policy is absolutely essential for our nation's future."
"Improving education in Australia will be my life on the hill in the Twenty-first Century."
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