Minister for Ideological Purity

"Today, learning is too important to be left to students.
They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination
for strategic thought. I can no longer sit back and allow
Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist
subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to
sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids."

Dear Dr Nelson

I am somewhat at a loss when it comes to understanding your various plans for higher education. While I have no problem with bearing the costs of my educational choices it seems to me somewhat, incongruous and confusing, shall we say, that while I am willing to pay back the taxpayer at some point you on the other hand are unwilling to set an example and put your money where your mouth is, ideologically.

What do I mean? Wouldn't it end the debate over how much university students should pay if you took the bold step of calculating the amount of money you owed, at current HECS rates of course, and then paid it back in full? You could even donate it to the university of your choice. Just think of what a PR coup my proposal would be, none would dare to call you a hypocrite, words like, bold, visionary and courageous would forever hasten after your name. In a single stroke you would repudiate the legacy of Gough Whitlam, the quasi-dictator who foisted such usury upon you, and stand righteous in the face of any, now feeble, criticism.

Perhaps you could forward my proposal to your colleagues in parliament who also were educationally oppressed by Whitlam, deprived of market choices that should have been rightfully theirs. What a capital use for your $85 a week pay rise. If you used only that to pay back your degree, currently worth around $100,000, it'd only take you 22 years. Think of it as 22 years to political Valhalla. It is said that a journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step, or in your case, the first of 1,176 weekly payments. I look forward to seeing you embark on your momentous journey. I give you my word sir, none will cheer louder than I once you complete it.

Yours sincerely

A tip of the helmet to the General