Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Deputy Speaker Chesters, it's a pleasure to be here and to see you in that chair.

Labor is the party of education. Labor is the party of aspiration. I'm pleased to rise on the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025 that addresses both of those things. I support this legislation, the first bill introduced in this new parliament, because it delivers on the promise made to Australians. The bill goes to the heart of Labor's mission—fairness, relief and restoring faith in the power of education. It is Labor's safety net in action not just for today but for a better, fairer Australia tomorrow.

As someone who spent over two decades in schools as a teacher, a principal and a proud public educator, I understand how crucial it is that education remains an opportunity and that all hindrances are removed and all impediments to having people engage in education are addressed. It is important that higher education not become a trap.

The bill in front of us wipes 20 per cent off existing student debts across HELP, VET Student Loans, Apprenticeship Support Loans and others. It delivers $16 billion in student-debt relief for around 3 million Australians, including more than 800,000 people in Victoria, and over 18,000 in my electorate of Lalor. That's 18,000 locals who will be better off because this bill passes this place.

It will provide an average reduction of $5,520 per person in student debt—and that's an average. I've met young locals who have much bigger debts than that, because they've pursued longer term agendas. That's a young couple saving for a house, a mature-age student changing careers or a family breathing a little easier. This 20 per cent cut is automatic—no red tape, no applications, just direct relief.

This builds on the Labor government's earlier action to fix the broken indexation system, which wiped a further $3 billion in debt for Australians with a HECS debt. Together these reforms represent nearly $20 billion in relief—real action, not talk, to support our local people. I understand what this means for people trying to move forward. I understand what it means for young families juggling child care and repayments. I understand the peace of mind this will bring to a generation that has felt locked out.

But it also goes to structural issues. This goes to the structure of the repayment system. This legislation reforms the repayment system and makes it fairer. The minimum repayment threshold will increase from $54,000 to $67,000. Simply put it means that, if you currently earn $54,000, you are required to start paying back that HECS debt. This will increase that payment threshold and only apply when you are earning $67,000. A graduate earning $70,000 will pay $1,300 less per year in repayments, because of this measure. You won't begin repaying your loan until you are earning a more sustainable income. That's fairer, that's smarter and that's a system that recognises the real pressures Australians are facing. It especially supports women, carers and part-time workers—those who've often borne the brunt of unfair systems.

This bill goes to the heart of who we are as a nation and what we aspire for our young people. It's about who we back and about who we believe in. It will especially help younger Australians, with around 70 per cent of people repaying a HECS debt being 35 years and younger. My electorate of Lalor is one of the youngest in the country, and I know how much this matters to the people I represent—not just the people with the debt but their families, their parents, who are equally concerned, as concerned as we are in this place, about what this has meant for young people getting their first housing loan. We have this piece of legislation. We also have the Treasurer's actions with the banks to ensure that that is changing.

On election night, a student who helped on the campaign for me, came up and simply said: 'Thank you. Thank you for understanding what this means.' That moment has stayed with me. That student represents what this bill is all about. It's about hope, it's about access and it's about fairness.

From Whitlam establishing universal higher education in 1974, through Hawke's and Dawkins's reforms and to today, Labor has delivered access and equity across generations. This bill continues that legacy. As a former educator, I know that education transforms lives. I've taught kids whose parents never finished school. I've sat with students at 3.30 pm on a Friday, watching them weigh up work, study and survival. I understand the barriers that exist and I know that education is a ladder—and it's always been Labor that builds the rungs on that ladder, making sure no-one is left behind.

I take a moment to say that this bill works in conjunction with other actions taken by this government. I want to celebrate for a moment one of the things that the Albanese Labor government has done—and that something was really important in my electorate. The fact is that Pacific Islander students in my electorate were blocked from—had impediments put in front of them—being able to access HECS. They had no pathway to citizenship. I taught generations of Pacific Islander kids whose aspirations were dashed because they couldn't see a pathway to higher education in this country. This government has created that pathway to citizenship. This government has created that pathway to allowing our young people from New Zealand to access this. This government has now given them relief on top through this budget.

This bill restores confidence in our higher education system and restores the public's belief that students can enrol in higher education and that they have a government that believes in them and supports them. The Universities Accord made it clear: uncapped indexation, rising debts and confusing repayment systems were putting people off study altogether. You don't have to look very far in my community to see the impact that has had. That is no way to run a system built on and for aspiration. This bill answers that fear with fairness. We're not just cutting debt by 20 per cent; we're rewriting the rules—fixing indexation so it never grows faster than wages and introducing marginal repayments so repayments only apply to what you earn above the threshold. This is a critical point when you're looking at your options between pursuing higher education and pursuing a trade. It's a critical point, and we need those with the capacity to pursue higher education. We know we need it. We've been told how important that higher education piece is going to be into the future.

Whilst Labor is delivering $16 billion in real relief to three million Australians, the opposition—those opposite—said no. They voted against wiping student debt. They voted against easing the cost-of-living burden. They voted against restoring fairness to the higher education system. At a time when Australians needed support, they chose politics over people. Labor chooses students, Labor chooses fairness, Labor chooses action and Labor chooses aspiration. This is a Labor policy. It reflects Labor values and it will be delivered by the Albanese Labor government. This bill lifts the weight off the shoulders of the very people we rely on.

As the member for Lalor, I say thank you to the Minister for Education for making this our government's first priority. I thank the Prime Minister for making this commitment. I commend the bill to the House and the message it sends for three million Australians: help is here, and fairness is back, because, under Labor, education will never be a privilege for the few. It will always be a promise to all.

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