Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Hansard source

In another example of the Abbott government's misunderstanding of its own budget, in question time on 2 June in response to a question about the trade support loans for apprentices Minister McFarlane said:

There is no doubt that the loans are interest free.

He then went on to say:

The loans … are indexed annually with CPI.

The department's website and the budget papers also make it clear that the loans will be indexed to the consumer price index.

Apprentices deserve to be told the truth about how much any loans they take out will rise by each year and how much the indexing will add to their debt. They also should be told the truth about how much the cost of their courses will increase by as a result of budget cuts to TAFE funding by the Abbott government. Cutting $5,500 of direct funding to apprentices and replacing it with more expensive TAFE fees, for which apprentices are then expected to take out a compounding interest debt, is another direct attack on the young people of Australia by a Prime Minister who has shown that he is out of touch with Australians and that he simply cannot be trusted.

See this speech in context