Former Prime Minister Bob Hawke has spoken out against proposed cuts to education and criticised Tony Abbott for breaking promises made before the election.
Mr Hawke made the remarks while speaking to media in Perth on Tuesday evening.
“I think the cuts to education are horrendous,” he said.
"This is the last area in which you should be cutting expenditure because we must educate our young people both academically and in the technical area and, in this context, it's important to emphasise the importance of science and research. To be cutting money out of those areas is short sighted in the extreme."
He said the public was clearly unhappy with the 2014 budget and went on to criticise Tony Abbott for apparently going back on election promises.
"The public has given their judgment on the budget," he said. "You've seen the recent polls."
"Tony – as the leader of the opposition – absolutely mauled Julia Gillard for breaking election promises. Well, she looks like an amateur compared to the promises Tony has broken."
From January 1 in 2016, higher education providers in Australia will be able to set their own tuition fees for the course they offer.
Existing arrangements will remain in place until the end of 2020 for students already paying fees.
Commonwealth scholarships for disadvantaged students will be funded by the changes, with 20 per cent of additional revenue raised by institutions to be committed.
Changes to HELP debt will also come into effect on from July 1, 2016, when graduates earning more than $50,638 will have to start repaying student debt.
Students will fork out more when the government changes the rate at which they pay back their student loans.
Instead of remaining linked to the inflation rate, the government will lend money to students at a rate that reflects the cost of government borrowings to fund their student loans, with a maximum rate of 6 per cent.
Bob Hawke compares Tony Abbott to John Howard:
