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

I do note that the shadow minister was heard in silence. For those who are genuine about this debate, as opposed to those who want to interject with their politics, I will make some facts clear. The facts are these. We inherited a youth allowance system that saw the participation rates of country students go backwards whilst money was being paid to students living at home in metropolitan Australia in families earning $200,000 and $300,000 a year. It was not right. We were advised by Denise Bradley, as part of the Bradley reform process for higher education, to fix this inequity. We introduced legislation at the time of the budget last year to do just that.

I freely acknowledge that the legislation in its original form caused great anxiety for students caught in the transition—that is, students who had already proceeded on a gap year before the date of the budget and who were seeing that their arrangements would be disrupted by the new rules. I freely acknowledge that. So we went on a process of consultation, and I note that the Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Support and Parliamentary Secretary for Water, who is at the table with me—a member who represents regional Australia—was one of the members on this side of the House who was involved. I note that the member for Cunningham, sitting in the House at the moment, was certainly involved, as were the members for Ballarat and Bendigo. They came and spoke to me and said that we needed to address this. At the same time, I freely acknowledge that there were coalition members who raised this issue with me and there were senators who raised this with me.

I understand that that was an issue causing anxiety in rural and regional Australia, and the bill has been amended. We firstly amended it for students who would have made their arrangements to go on a gap year and who need to move away from home in order to study. We amended it. Then, in the course of Senate negotiations involving the Greens and Senator Xenophon, we amended it further. Now the transition arrangements for the students who were on the old rules—those who had made their arrangements before the date of the May budget—have been expanded to gap year students who live at home with families with an income of less than $150,000. So let us just acknowledge this. Yes, there was a problem with the transition. The bill has been amended—

See this speech in context