Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Faruqi for her amendment. This bill provides significant relief to Australian students and workers with student debt. The bill cuts 20 per cent off all student debts. It wipes $16 billion from student debt for three million Australians, which will be backdated to 1 June 2025, before indexation was applied. It also delivers important structural reforms to repayments which will benefit generations to come. As the Minister for Education has said:

… HECS blew the doors of universities open. When HECS was introduced, only about 5 per cent of the workforce had a uni degree. Now it's more than 26 per cent. Today almost one in two young people in their 20s and 30s have a university degree.

But it can be made better and fairer. Without HECS, fewer would get that choice. The number would be cut in half. This would effectively close the door behind those who already benefit from having a tertiary education. What the universities accord said was that we need more people going on to tertiary education, not fewer, and that's why the government will not support this amendment.