The surprise decision by the Australian government to triple the fees New Zealanders pay to study at its universities has the government questioning the trans-Tasman relationship.
About 20,000 New Zealanders and Australian permanent residents are currently enrolled in Australian institutions. Photo: 123.rf
The change to the university fees was a complete surprise to the government - even though Bill English spoke to Malcolm Turnbull just days before the tertiary education reforms were announced.
Tomorrow Gerry Brownlee will take the issue up with his Australian counterpart, Julie Bishop, in his first overseas call as Foreign Affairs Minister.
A New Zealander living in Perth, Kent Peters, says his hopes and dreams for his two sons had been shattered by an announcement.
Mr Peters had been celebrating his newly-minted Australian citizenship but says 'our hopes and dreams for our sons' future shattered overnight'.
Mr Peters, the Bursar at Guildford Grammar School, and Liam O'Neill, a dual citizen who is the Student Guild President at Perth's Curtin University told Morning Report they are both gobsmacked by the surprise move on fees.
