Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I know—I am a dreadful optimist but a romantic optimist. He said a couple of sensible things. He said, ‘Overall, the evidence seems to suggest that it has become too easy for students from affluent backgrounds to qualify and too difficult for students from modest backgrounds.’ He was right about that. He said, ‘This means that students from a family earning an average weekly income cannot effectively go straight from school to university and be supported. It particularly disadvantages many students—particularly those from the country—who have to leave home to study.’ He was right about that. Our student income support system is about providing scholarships and support to students: providing 150,000 students a new scholarship of $2,254 each year—28 times more scholarships than when we came to office—providing a $4,000 relocation scholarship to students who need to relocate, and changing the parental income test to benefit more families.

But what do we see from the Liberal Party and the National Party? We see obstruction. We have amendments that the member for Sturt, the now shadow minister, wants to move which would—and can you believe this—tear $700 million out of scholarships. It would reduce the scholarships that students are getting from $2,254 per year to $1,000 per year. Remarkably, this scholarship rip-off is a permanent rip-off. To finance what the shadow minister says is a transition problem, he is going to rip students off from now until the end of time. No wonder these amendments from the Liberal Party have been characterised by the National Union of Students as ‘scabby and sloppy’. I think we need to say this to members opposite: these scabby and sloppy amendments should not be proceeded with. The Liberal Party and the National Party should expedite passage of this legislation. This is what will guarantee for students next year the benefits of the new system. It is time to end the gross inequity that members opposite stood by and supported over 12 long years. We want to benefit country kids; we want to benefit poorer kids; we want to make sure taxpayers’ dollars go where they are needed the most. It is time that the Liberal and the National parties actually got out of the way and endorsed a decent student income support system for Australian students.

See this speech in context