Christopher Pyne’s proposed changes to university funding have been unpopular with students. Source: News Corp Australia

And the changes are still a long way from becoming law.

As forecast, the radio and television ads tell young people “uni graduates can earn 75 per cent more” than non-graduates.

It said the Government would “continue to pay around half your undergraduate degree and HECS covers the rest”.

“So you pay zero course fees upfront,” the advertisements say.

The campaign has been under development since early October with market research and “slick” videos ready two weeks ago. It was set to go when the government legislation was rejected by the Senate last week.

Education Minister immediately introduced similar legislation to the House of Representatives and ordered the start of the advertising campaign.

PUP Senate leader Glenn Lazarus, the vote Mr Pyne couldn’t get with a barrage of text messages, wasn’t impressed.

“Clearly Christopher Pyne has given up on texting and moved on to advertising, websites and social media,” Senator Lazarus said in a statement.

The ads are aimed at reassuring young people considering university and combating Labor’s warnings deregulation of fees would lead to $100,000 degrees.

Tax payer dollars weren’t the only thing Education Minister Christopher Pyne dropped today. Source: News Corp Australia

Elements are being opposed by student groups and university managers horrified by the 20 per cent cut in funding.

Education Minister Pyne insists the advertisements are factual and are genuine attempts to inform the public.

And the government argues it has spent much less than Labor governments on advertisements.

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen questioned the need for the ads before legislation has been passed.

“A week after losing a vote in the Senate, what’s the answer?” said Mr Bowen.

“Do they go back and scrap their changes? Do they listen to the people? Do they try and come up with a scheme that doesn’t include a 20 per cent funding cut?

“No. What they do is they spend millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money — we don’t know how much and they should reveal those figures today — they spend millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money on taxpayer-funded advertising which is misleading.”

PM Tony Abbott and Christopher Pyne after delivering a Valedictory speech in the House of Representatives Chamber, Parliament House in Canberra. Source: News Corp Australia

Last week news.com.au revealed the government had secretly accumulated market research and “slick” video advertisements for a massive campaign aimed at selling its changes to higher education funding to young people.

The Education Minister raised the prospect of an advertising campaign on Wednesday after talking to cross bench senators, including independent John Madigan.

“One of the things that Senator Madigan asked for was that an education campaign be run by the government to quell some of the concerns that people have in the community,” said Mr Pyne. “We’ll look at that of course.”

However, Senator Madigan has angrily denied it was his idea, and attacked Mr Pyne for his claim.

“Clearly the government has not sold its policies well,” Senator Madigan said on Facebook. “Its engagement with the public and the crossbench has been patchy. “Unequivocally, I never called for an advertising campaign using taxpayers’ money and I would never support such a measure.”