I think we should pay for it. It's not general knowledge (and lets face it, nothing after year 2 was relevant at school, but they needed something to occupy us for our childhoods besides slave labour), it's specilisation. I think the current HECS system is great because it gives everybody a chance to go, even those who can't afford it now, but will someday.
If we just gave it out for free, so many people would abuse the system, so there has to be a contribution made.
But I don't agree with full fee paying, because somebody who's really intelligent, worked hard and has always dreamed of doing law could get 94 and miss out, but some slack ass who's got a rich family and did fuck all during the HSC could buy their way in with 65. It's just not fair that way.
So yeah, I'm all for the current system. It should definitely be selected on merit, and paid for. The government's stupid changing it.