(Transcript from World News Radio)
Students in Melbourne have staged another protest against the federal government's plans to deregulate the university system.
It was part of continuing campaign which has seen thousands of students protest around the country.
But as Van Nguyen reports, it also took inspiration from student-led protests in Hong Kong.
The National Union of Students organised the protest in front of Victoria's State Library.
Speakers from the students' union and representatives of the National Tertiary Education Union attacked the plans to deregulate course fees.
Declan Murphy, from the students' union, says it's vital for the future of education in Australia for the government's moves to be blocked in the Senate.
"All of the major opposition parties have at least pledged that they'll block these reforms when they come into the Senate. So obviously, you can never trust what a politician says but we'll try to hold them to their word and ensure that these measures never see the light of day."
Victoria University student, Lauren Stevenson, says she'll continue to fight against the government's plans.
"I think there's been a survey of young people. I think it's something like eighty percent absolutely staunched (sic) against these cuts. I mean, we've seen some politicians have come around and say they are going to block these aspects of the budget, particularly the education stuff. I think it's received the most attention. I think we're putting that pressure on there, I think we need to keep going onwards, upwards, bigger, better."
Students at the rally held umbrellas as a way of demonstrating their solidarity with the student-led protest movement in Hong Kong.
Declan Murphy from the National Union of Students says the so-called umbrella revolution in Hong Kong is inspiring.
"It's about saying that the fight for a just and equitable education sytem is not a fight that can be limited to any one country. It's an international fight. Obviously they're fighting a different immediate enemy. They're demanding real democracy from Beijing which is something we support. But in a sense, they're fighting for the same thing which we are which is more of a say over their society, a more democratic society. And you know, if we had a democratic society, we would never see these sorts of measures being implemented in the first place with what we're facing in Australia."
Hong Kong student, Mimi Cheung, spoke at the demonstration in Melbourne.
She says she feels heart-broken about Hong Kong but is extremely happy to see students here protesting with umbrellas.
Ms Cheung says Hong Kong students fighting for freedom have to resist police repression.
"Students are being attacked back in Hong Kong, which is not right and the police don't know what to do anyway. They were being forced. It's the government giving the orders. We blame the government for this."
The Melbourne protest ended with a march into the nearby Melbourne Central shopping centre, escorted by a line of police.
