Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has admitted he didn't pay a cent to go to university, after announcing his government's controversial decision to make students pay thousands more for their degrees.
"I am probably a bit older than you, a lot older than you I expect, and I went to university before HECS, " the 62-year-old told ABC Radio Perth on Tuesday.
"So I did not pay fees to go to university."
The prime minister completed a free Arts-Law degree at Sydney University during the 1970s, after university fees were abolished by the Whitlam government.
Malcolm Turnbull 's past is laid bare in a new unauthorised biography. https://t.co/lMyxNtb6eJ
University was free from 1974 until the introduction of the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) in 1989.
After completing a free degree in Australia, Turnbull won a Rhodes Scholarship and completed a second law degree at Oxford.
After careers in law, journalism, business and politics, the prime minister is now estimated to be worth around $200 million.
The government confirmed on Monday that from 2018 university fees will increase by 7.5% over the next four years for current and future students, and graduates will be forced to pay back their student loans sooner.