Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

In supporting the amendment, I must say there is something palpably wrong with a government which refuses to even consider allowing regional students in some areas to have access to independent youth allowance. Among those areas is a large portion of my Riverina electorate. That portion includes Wagga Wagga, the largest inland city in New South Wales, as well as the important centres of Adelong, Batlow, Coolamon, Gundagai, Junee, Mangoplah and Tumut. University students in those places might not seem important to the government and certainly not to the Prime Minister, who was the Minister for Education when changes to youth allowance criteria were unfortunately introduced, but they are important to me and they mean everything to the hardworking families supporting them. Country students do not deserve to be done over in this way. They know it, their parents know it, I know it and members opposite know it in their hearts—but does the Prime Minister?

I might use the words of a particularly engaging and thought-provoking address which I feel sums up the inequality of the youth allowance debate. It was delivered, rather appropriately, on 11 November 1998—Remembrance Day. I quote:

… not only economists but ordinary people understand that the future of Australia and the future of themselves and their children is tied to educational success.

Australia cannot afford to waste talent. But, under this government, we are engaging in that shameful and cruel waste. We are denying Australians access to opportunity. In its 1996 budget, this government took $1.8 billion of public support away from our university system. The inevitable result has been a decline in the number of students starting courses at our universities. When the cuts took effect, Victoria tumbled from having the second highest growth rate in commencing enrolments to being the state with the biggest fall, a 4.7 per cent fall in commencing enrolments—a statistic which speaks of misery and lost opportunity.

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