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

The disgrace I refer to is the fact that the two opposition members at the table were participants, as ministers, in a government that watched country kids and poorer kids go backwards, go out the back door whilst they cheerfully made sure that kids who lived at home in families with incomes over $300,000 per year got precious taxpayer support. That is the record of the Liberal Party members sitting at the table—a disgrace. We are fixing this disgrace. We have made the sensible decision to tighten the current workforce participation criteria for independence in line with the recommendation of the Bradley review, and we are redirecting funding into a massive suite of reforms.

Parental income will now be the primary measure of eligibility. More students who previously had to prove independence and wait 18 months to receive support will now be able to access support automatically as dependants through the raised parental income test. Key elements of our changes include the fact that all students who receive youth allowance will receive a $2,254 start-up scholarship every year unless they are currently receiving another equivalent Commonwealth scholarship. This will benefit around 150,000 students next year. The parental income test will be raised so that families with two children studying away from home can earn more than $140,000 before their allowance is cut completely. The higher parental income test particularly recognises the needs of families whose children need to move away from home to study—and the member for New England referred to that. Over 100,000 students will benefit from either receiving the allowance for the first time or getting a higher rate of allowance.

Students who want to move to study may be eligible for an additional relocation scholarship—and the member for New England referred to that—worth $4,000 in the first year of study and $1,000 in each subsequent year. This will particularly benefit rural and regional students. From 1 July 2010 students will be able to earn $400 a fortnight up from $236 without having their payments reduced. The age of independence will reduce progressively from 25 years to 22 years by 2012, which will see an estimated 7,600 new recipients of the independent rate of allowance. The reforms to Youth Allowance will have consequential effects for Abstudy and in some cases Austudy.

Now let us have a look at who has endorsed these reforms and we find people who care about education. The Group of Eight universities has endorsed these reforms; the Australian Technology Network has endorsed these reforms; the National Union of Students said of our budget measures:

This is a big win for students, a substantial investment in future productivity and jobs.

The National Union of Students said on budget night:

Thumbs up for massive education funding, thumbs up for massive student income support.

Universities Australia, the peak university organisation, has lauded these changes saying:

Lowering the age of independence progressively from 25 years to 22, and ensuring student support can be claimed by more of those students who are truly in need is commendable.

This is a system that deserves the support of this place and of the Senate. Can I say, obviously in the transition to the new system there are a number of students who told us, while they liked the new system and they understood why we were changing the system, they were concerned that current gap year students who needed to move to study would be caught between the old and the new systems. After wide consultation the government announced a transition measure to allow gap year students, who completed school in 2008 and who need to move to study, until 30 June 2010 to qualify for independent status under the workforce participation criterion. This will be financed by delaying until 1 July 2012 the introduction of an increase to the amount of money students can earn from part-time work while receiving income support to $400 per fortnight. These were sensible changes that have been welcomed by students and the peak organisation of universities.

Unfortunately the coalition, presumably still wedded to its past track record of discriminating against country kids and poorer kids and favouring kids who live at home in richer households, has not as yet indicated that it will pass this bill in full. Inexplicably it has put forward amendments before the House that will permanently cut support to students to deal with what is essentially a transition issue. The coalition wants to delay the new independence criteria by a year for all students including those living at home, but to do this it wants to rip almost $700 million from scholarships by permanently—it is an important word, permanently—reducing the value of the new student start-up scholarship to $1,000 per annum, a permanent cut to the amount of money going to students. This will cost students on income support over $3,700 over a three-year degree and leave 150,000 students worse off. That is what the coalition amendments mean. Now, clearly, they need to be rejected on that basis.

I would also note that, whilst the coalition have put forward a fig leaf of $120 million for a rural and regional scholarship to try and disguise this permanent cut, there are absolutely no criteria attached to it. So how do we know the coalition will not be back to their old tricks of making sure that students in upper income households get this money, because that is the system that they used to operate in government and did nothing about? Students who are at the centre of these reforms do not support the coalition amendments. The National Union of Students has called these proposed amendments—and I quote—‘scabby and sloppy.’ That is the approach of the coalition in their amendments.

The government will not support these scabby and sloppy amendments. We will not support a $700 million rip-off out of scholarships. Clearly the coalition, after their track record in government, come to this debate with no credibility. We will press to have this bill passed not only here this evening but also through the Senate and it will be clearly to the disadvantage of Australian students, a disadvantage for which the coalition will be fully responsible, if they do not pass these Bradley inspired reforms in the Senate expeditiously. With those words I commend this bill to the House and I urge all members to support this bill in its entirety.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.

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