Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks, Senator Faruqi, for that contribution. These amendments will be opposed by the government. The government is examining the Universities Accord, which I'm reluctant to mention after our Senate estimates process. But I will do it once again and hope that you'll forgive me. It's important to understand, as I mentioned before, how HECS-HELP works. It is not like a home loan or a personal loan, where, if the interest goes up, your payments go up. It's built on a really important principle that you pay what you can afford, and you don't pay more unless you earn more. To remove or freeze indexation on loans or not apply it to a future loan means shifting that financial burden onto taxpayers. So the government will be opposing these amendments.