Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Hansard source

Family First will support the coalition’s amendment. I would have preferred mine, but I can understand the arguments that have gone around the chamber. As I said before, everybody, except the government, realises they have got a problem. But I suppose that is how it works sometimes.

This is an extremely important amendment. It will ensure that people from rural and regional areas are not treated like second-rate citizens when it comes to education. I believe that the government has got it wrong. I think it is penny-pinching. You are short-changing Australia as a whole. I think you are short-changing future generations. The so-called education revolution is in danger of becoming an education revolt by those people who are really concerned about this.

I want to make it clear that we have to amend this legislation. It will be interesting to see what the government does with this. I think you have seen that this chamber is absolutely dead-set serious about making sure that you soften the blow and make sure that some reasonableness is put into the changes to youth allowance. As I said, you are taking a sledgehammer to it. If you have got some problems with it, by all means address them, but don’t do what you have done. You have got to face the fact that you have underestimated the impact of these changes. I do not want to pre-empt the vote but we have seen an indication from the chamber. I am hoping that the government supports these changes in the lower house and realises that they have got it wrong. I think this amendment should be supported by the government.