"If we can no longer afford free uni then so be it, why should I...

"If we can no longer afford free uni then so be it, why should I pay tax so somebody else gets a free ride at uni.."

Firstly, it's not free. HECS is a contribution scheme, where about half the costs are born by the taxpayer.

Secondly, removing affordable (but certainly not free) education will put in place a poverty trap, whereby poorer kids won't aspire to go to uni, for fear of a massive debt hanging around their necks until middle age (let alone the unreasonably massive mortgage they need if they want to buy a home).

Thirdly, the generations that went before them had access to free or affordable education. Given they're going to be paying for an increasingly large group of oldies who didn't save enough to look after themselves, they deserve to at least get a start in life, before they're demanded to look after an army of retirees.

Anybody who's had a free university education is particularly selfish if they want to abandon HECS, doubly so if they expect the government to look after them into retirement.