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

I did not yell out at the shadow minister, so I would be thankful if those opposite would actually listen—and, if they want to come and put a view to me, I would be very happy to hear it. The bill has been amended so that students who would have made their arrangements before the announcements in the May budget and who need to move away from home to study have had their arrangements fixed. Now, the present version of the bill fixes arrangements for students who do not need to move away from home to study but who live with families with incomes of less than $150,000 a year. So transition has been fixed, apart from a class of students who live at home in families earning more than $150,000 a year. If the central concern of the opposition is for families with incomes of more than $150,000 with students living at home, they should clearly say that. But that is not rural and regional kids—we know that. That is not kids from lower income backgrounds—we know that. So that is the bill before the parliament.

In terms of looking at the bill before the parliament, I note that today’s Sydney Morning Herald had an editorial entitled ‘It’s time to retreat on student grants’. I freely acknowledge that this editorial is not uncritical of me. It is critical of me for the first piece of legislation I brought into the parliament, and I will wear that criticism.

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