Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Hansard source

They were conned, as the member for Gippsland says, into believing something which, as Senator Evans confirmed on Thursday, was nothing more than another government ruse to avoid defeat on the floor of the House of Representatives. The deal that they had struck on Monday did not even last through to Thursday. Hopefully, they will not be humiliated, because they will reverse their previous position if they get the chance to do so—and I intend to give them that chance. I now move to Appropriation Bill (No.3) 2010-11 the following amendment:

That all words after “That” be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:“whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House call on the Government to bring forward its timetable for resolving the inequity it has created in independent youth allowance payments for inner regional students, and in particular ensure that:

(1)

the review is completed by 1 July 2011;

(2)

the current eligibility criteria for independent youth allowance for persons whose homes are located in Outer Regional Australia, Remote Australia and Very Remote Australia according to the Remoteness Structure defined in  subsection 1067A(10F) of the Social Security Act 1991 also apply to those with homes in Inner Regional Australia from 1 July 2011;

(3)

all students who had a gap year in 2010 (ie, 2009 year 12 school-leavers) and who meet the relevant criteria qualify for the payment; and

(4)

this bill be appropriated with the necessary funds to pay for this measure.

This amendment ensures that the government cannot wriggle out of an agreement they made with the Independents that caused the Independents to vote a certain way in the House of Representatives last Monday. This amendment ensures that inner regional students can access the independent rate of youth allowance based on the same criteria as those for students in outer regional and remote and very remote areas. It puts to proof the government’s claim that they have fixed the problem to the satisfaction of the Independents. We will make sure this amendment is voted on in the House of Representatives this week to ensure that the Independents have a second opportunity over a nebulous deal on a shake of a hand with the government and actually force the government to abide by the will of the parliament. If we do not do this and if the House does not pass this amendment, that will mean that students who graduated from year 12 in 2009 will be in a cohort all of their own and will be in a bubble all of their own. Students before 2009 can access the old criteria and students from 2011 will be able to access the new criteria—from 1 January next year—but students who finished year 12 in 2009 will still be facing the prospect of not being able to access the independent rate of youth allowance despite the fact that they would have qualified under the new rules from 1 January 2012. We want to make sure that the promised review of youth allowance reports by the end of this financial year. If the review reports by 30 June—that is, before 1 July—it will give the government all the time it needs to ensure that the new guidelines for the independent rate of youth allowance will not leave out any particular kind of student.

I will give you one example of the kind of student I am talking about. The member for Paterson has provided me with a letter from a constituent whose daughter is in just this position. It reads:

Thanks for agreeing to take my case to attempt some fair and equitable treatment of our application for youth allowance for my daughter. She is a youth who has been seriously affected by the change of the goalposts mid year by the Labor government. Our daughter completed year 12 in 2009 and decided to take a gap year to enable her to earn over the cut off amount at the time which was $19532 in the next 18 months, and thereby qualify for youth allowance when she commenced her Arts/Law degree this year 2011. She worked as many hours as she could at her casual job at officeworks at Newcastle and all payslips and other information was kept by us to prove that she had earned this amount. She recommenced worked as soon as the HSC was over in October 2009. After the return to school rush at officeworks passed, my daughter’s powers were cut back, however, she was still optimistic about earning the $19532 in the 18 month period.

Then the government changed the goalposts half way through last year and the new rules say that she has had to work an average of 30 hours per week in that 18 mth period. This changing of the goalposts halfway through the year has meant that my daughter, despite earning over $19532 will not now qualify for the youth allowance.

This is not an esoteric debate about criteria, and it is not about the opposition winning or the government losing or the Independents striking a deal. The government’s changes have materially affected not only this constituent’s family but also the families of thousands like her who graduated in 2009 from year 12. There are thousands of students who, through the fault of nothing but the government’s intransigence, will miss out on the financial support they need to go on to tertiary education. As the government has admitted, these students have been materially affected, and that is why they have brought forward the review and why they say new rules will start from 1 January 2012. In spite of the admissions of the government and the Independents that this was the case, the government has said that it will not allow those students in 2009 to qualify under the new rules. Senator Evans confirmed that in estimates last Thursday, when he wanted to back-pedal and backslide out of the agreement that he had made with the Independents.

I am saying to the House—and we will have a vote on it this week—that if it actually wants to put inner regional students in the same position as all the other regional and rural students it should vote for this amendment. Any other arrangement with the government is not worth the paper that it was not written on. The only way the government will be forced to effect a change giving students who graduated in 2009 the same access to the youth allowance as every other rural and regional student is if this amendment is passed. I have moved the amendment, and I absolutely commend it to the House.

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