Jessica Collins (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This week the Prime Minister posted to social media, 'Our 20 per cent cut to your student debt has started rolling out,' but with government debt of around $1 trillion it's disingenuous and misleading to say that this debt has been cut. We must never forget that the government has no way of paying its bills or settling its debts without using your money. For every $1 billion this government spends, that is close to $100 out of your household budget. For every $10 billion of government debt, that is nearly $1,000 on your household's credit card. When the government decides to cut $16 billion in student debt, we must remember it costs every household, on average, over $1,500 to fund that promise.

If you're a member of an inner-city student share house then I wish you well in your pursuit of wisdom and truth. But almost half of all Australians don't have tertiary or vocational qualifications, and less than 12 per cent of Australians have a HELP debt. What most Australian households do have is daily worries about how to put food on their table and clothes on their children. The average working family struggles to pay for the costs associated with their own children's education. Why should they be paying the tuition fees of university students?

I absolutely understand the struggles that students are facing, and there's not much else for young people to be excited about, financially, under this government, but pursuing higher education is a personal choice. It is a good choice, because studies have shown that higher education levels correlate to higher lifetime earnings. But this half-baked policy—if you can even call it policy—is the only socialist initiative I have heard of that subsidises higher income households. The Labor Party has always pitched itself as the party of the worker, but it is clear that the Labor Party has become the party for inner-city elites. The $16 billion will be added to the Albanese government's growing debt pile, and there will be interest on that, which the government will pay using your taxes. To all the students who are celebrating the wiping of $16 billion of student debt: it has not been wiped. It's just been shifted, and it will be recovered in the future with higher taxes that you will pay for the rest of your working life.

We must remember that this government is not getting smaller; it is getting bigger. This government is not getting more efficient; it is getting more costly, and the burden of that cost is borne by you. We should be less concerned about how the government can give more to us and more concerned with how the government can take less from us. Announcements of big spending should not be treated as a triumphant government initiative. This is the most blatant political bribe in Australia's history—a government that takes money from working families to subsidise the academic pursuits of university students.

The last election saw the most announcements of electoral spending in the history of this country. It may be exciting to hear that your local footy or cricket club is getting new change rooms or about a new grant for your multicultural festival market square. A billion here, $10 billion there—everyone gets a billion dollars towards something they're interested in. Announcements of big spending should be treated as a cautious warning that families will have to make sacrifices in their homes to pay for the ideas of desperate politicians that will not hesitate to take your money to save their careers.

It's time this parliament had an honest conversation with the Australian people, especially with Australian young people. When asked about the HECS debt in question time today, the Labor Minister for Youth, Jess Walsh, said that Labor is 'supporting young Australians with higher wages and lower taxes' so they can 'earn more and keep more of what they earn'. Well, guess what? The young people of Australia were sold a lemon. Three million Australians were promised an immediate cost-of-living measure, but they will pay more for it in the long term. The first tranche of emails and texts to the lucky recipients were sent out last weekend, saying their HECS debt had been wiped. On average, $5½ thousand was wiped, paid for by the rest of the taxpaying nation, the size of which is about five times more than those with a HECS debt. Where's the text to the rest of us who are going to have to pay for their education bill? Just remember: when Labor spends, you pay.