‘You couldn’t kill me with an axe’: Pyne refuses to back down on education reform

Education minister Christopher Pyne has refused to back down on education reforms despite being told by TODAY host Karl Stefanovic the policy is a “dead duck”.

Mr Pyne said deregulation of university was "the most important thing" he could be doing as education minister.

The policy is likely to be defeated in the Senate tomorrow.

"Chris, I’m telling you this morning it’s a dead duck," Stefanovic said.

"I never give up, no I will not give up. It’s too important," Mr Pyne replied.

"You couldn’t kill me with an axe Karl, I’ll keep coming back."

Stefanovic told Mr Pyne there were so many "adulterated forms" of the policy it looked like "Fifty Shades of Grey".

However Mr Pyne said he couldn’t speak on that as he wasn’t "allowed to see movies like that" because they were "too racy".

The education minister reiterated he believed Prime Minister Tony Abbott would lead the party to the next election, despite warnings from former Howard government minister Amanda Vanstone on ABC’s Four Corners last night.

"If things don’t change then the party room will," Ms Vanstone said.

"As you get closer to the election they focus on whether they can win or not."

Mr Pyne dismissed the program as a "real fizzer".