Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

This is indeed a matter of fairness. I think it is fairly simple for those in this chamber and elsewhere to realise that it does not matter if you live further than 90 minutes by public transport from a tertiary institution or not—the students on either side of that barrier are caught in exactly the same set of circumstances. That set of circumstances is the fact that they embarked upon this gap year in good faith on advice from Centrelink, from school counsellors and from a range of people that it was an appropriate way forward for them to gain access to independent youth allowance.

The government has simply changed its mind midstream and pulled the rug out from under the feet of those students. It was only forced into a partial backflip, but those exact same issues relate to all students. Regardless of whether or not they live further than 90 minutes away by public transport from the tertiary institution, if the government is going to argue the cost factor, that is simply ridiculous. This should not be about dollars and cents. This is about students’ education and them being told by the government what was an appropriate avenue to access that assistance. They simply had the rug pulled out from underneath them, and it should be reinstated.