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

I would have thought that were something that every member of the parliament could celebrate: more students having an opportunity to get a place at a university. I would have thought that would receive shared congratulations. That means 23 per cent more people are having the benefit of that kind of opportunity.

When we look at youth allowance, we see an extra 21,000 university students are now receiving youth allowance. In just 12 months, the number of dependant students from disadvantaged backgrounds receiving the maximum youth allowance student payment has increased by 108 per cent—it has more than doubled. The number of regional and rural students receiving student youth allowance has increased by 22 per cent. For those who genuinely care about the fortunes of rural and regional students, that is good news. In total, more than 107,000 young people have benefited because they are now receiving youth allowance the first time or because they are receiving more in their payment. More than 36,000 of these young people are from rural and regional areas. Once again, that is something I would have thought would be received as good news. There has been a 50 per cent increase in the number of regional and rural students receiving dependant youth allowance. In the past 12 months more than 240,000 university students have received start-up scholarships, with 55,000 of those students coming from rural and regional areas, and 36,000 students have received relocation assistance, which has of course gone to students from rural and regional areas too.

For those who care about opportunity in our society, for those who care about turning around the trend under the Howard government of the participation rate of rural and regional kids in university going down, the good news is we have turned that trend around and participation is going back up. That is a great thing for rural and regional Australia. It is a great thing for those who celebrate a fair distribution of opportunity in our society.

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