Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to speak on Labor's Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025. This is really important legislation because it gives another avenue for this government to emphasise our belief in how important education is for Australians. Education should be a pathway to opportunity, not a financial burden that limits a person's future. Tonight I highlight one of the most significant student debt reforms in Australia's history, the Albanese Labor government's decision to cut 20 per cent of all student loans, wiping $16 billion in debt from more than three million Australians. Wiping $16 billion of debt from three million Australians—that's good economic policy, it's very good education policy and it actually has health benefits as well.

This is more than just an education policy, as I said. It's more than an economic policy. It's about addressing the cost of living challenges that these students are facing. We know the Australian workforce, and we know the stress that is placed on all of us when we are under financial strain. Therefore, the impact on people's health and mental health is also being addressed by this piece of legislation. It is also helping to give financial security. For too long, student debts have weighed heavily on Australians striving to build a future. It has forced young people to delay major life milestones such as buying a house, starting a business and having children because of that financial obligation inherited from a broken education system under the former Liberal government. The Liberals had plenty of time to address this issue around student debt, but they decided to ignore it and to do nothing. They have been dragged, kicking and screaming initially, to support—I hope they will end up supporting it—this piece of legislation.

Now, we know that over their period in government our economy was dragged down, wages stagnated and debt rose. Excessive indexation forced millions to repay more—without earning more—of their debt, trapping graduates in deepening debt as living costs surged. The former government had every opportunity to fix this system, but they chose to do nothing, just as they did in so many other policy areas. We are here to fix their mess and address their failure.

By June next year, every Australian with a HELP or VET student loan, or an Australian apprenticeship support loan or other income contingent loan will see 20 per cent wiped from their balance. As I said, that's $16 billion in relief, giving millions of Australians real financial breathing room. That's what it is. For those with an average HELP debt of $ 28,000, this policy erases around $5,500. For larger debts, reductions could exceed $12,000. Australians will have greater financial freedom to invest in their future rather than being held back by repayments. This initiative will strengthen the economy, reduce student debt and free up household spending, allowing Australians to spend their income on goods and services and investments. With more money available, graduates and workers will contribute more actively to economic growth, stimulating industries and supporting businesses.

I want to acknowledge the work of Minister Jason Clare and his leadership in this area. I think he has been an outstanding Minister for Education. I've seen the passion. It doesn't matter whether you are visiting a primary school or you're going to an early childhood centre; his passion is as profound as it is when he is sitting down with university chancellors. He knows the true value of having an education, of having that opportunity, one that has not always been available. Can I just say that, in my home state of Tasmania, I meet so many young Tasmanians that are the first in many, many generations of Tasmanians to have the opportunity to go to university. So this will have a profound impact on those individuals. It will strengthen our economy. It will make us a brighter, smarter country, which is what we should be striving for every single day in this chamber.

I want to see my grandchildren have the opportunity to go on to university. I might add that my eldest granddaughter is applying to universities now, and I am very delighted that her strengths in numbers, in mathematics, come from me and my side of the family, but I also have to admit that my son-in-law's family are doctors. He is an industrial chemist. So she has a scientific background, so she's going into science. I wish her every success. To see a young woman aspire to and have those opportunities enriches all our lives, in my view, and I am immensely proud of her—whatever direction she wants to go in—as I am of the other six grandchildren that I'm very grateful to have.

We've heard a lot from those opposite, bleating about how the cost-of-living challenges are all due to this Labor government—after three years in government, one term in government—while neglecting to take any responsibility for the time they were there, for 11 very long years. With this legislation, like so much that we did in our first term, we're looking out for people who just need a helping hand. We've invested in education. We've brought all the states and territories to the table, to ensure that those starting school have the best opportunities, that they get help when the need is identified in the first three or four years of being at school. We've invested in that. Now we're investing in those who have qualifications or are aspiring to go to university to give them hope for the future.

We talk in this place about our motivations or what brings us to this place as senators. Education has to be the cornerstone of that. With a piece of legislation like this, you can see not only the educational benefits but the economic benefits. It's about lifting Australians up. It's about lifting up young people to know that they can aspire—not because they have rich parents who can pay for them to go to university. I wasn't able to do that for my daughter when she went to university. She's probably still paying that debt off, but she had the support at home to know that she could actually do that. She worked full time and studied part time. We want to give everyone that opportunity so that it's not about your credit card or your postcode and so that every young Australian can aspire to go to university and get that opportunity because it will set them up for a lifetime.

I talked earlier about the benefits from a health point of view. There are also benefits around mental health because of the burden of debt. I'm sure most people in this chamber at this very moment understand the anxiety and depression that is caused when people are under financial stress. That then implicates and has an effect on your physical health and your relationships. The community is so much poorer when you're going through those circumstances. I've lived there; I've done that and been there. So I am immensely proud to be able to stand in the chamber here tonight and support this legislation, because I think it's really important.

It's also critically important not only to Australia as a nation but to our urban centres and, very importantly to me as a Tasmanian, to regional areas like my home state of Tasmania. Tens of thousands of Tasmanians will see almost $250 million wiped from their collective debt. This is what education reform is about. This is a Labor government delivering on their election promises. It's a Labor government delivering on the things that we value as being important because they give the opportunity for equality in this country. With a good education, you can have a good job, you can earn money, you can invest, and you can start your business. You can go on and study the subjects that you really want to do, not choose a degree that you can afford. You can have a degree for which you are going to have passion, so you are going to make a greater contribution.

We know that, when those on that side were in government, they ran down our TAFE right across this country. They didn't invest in skills. They didn't value TAFE. We're addressing that as well—we've already done that, as I said. There is so much more I could say about this, but the important thing is that Labor have delivered on their election promise. We're investing in our young people. We're investing in those who want to go to university and those who want to study and get a decent education. I commend the bill.