Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Taxing mining companies that use Australian resources is not the same as money for Australian students' university degrees. It's just not the same thing. There are some points in the motion moved by the member for Griffith that I want to highlight. Indexation is not a tax. Some years—most years—it's low; some years, like most recently, it's high. Inflation is high. It's a broader challenge that this government is looking at tackling, but I want to repeat: indexation is not tax. When someone incurs a HECS-HELP debt for their university studies, they are asked to pay it back once they reach a certain income threshold, and each year a level of indexation is attached to that amount, but it is not interest.

The system of HECS-HELP, originally HECS, was introduced first in 1989, which brings me to another point I want to pick up on. The majority of politicians in this place did not get a free university education, because the majority of politicians in this place did not start university prior to 1989. It is a fallacy to continue to suggest that. Yes, some did, but the debate has shifted. The majority of people in this place started university after that date. I myself had a HECS debt, but I have been fortunate enough to pay it off. Some have paid it off, and some are continuing to pay it off. Others don't have a university HECS debt and have instead entered parliament through a trade or some other means. What is important to say here is that this system has led to an increase in the number of Australians with a degree, from 7.9 per cent to more than 33 per cent, in the three decades since it was introduced.

I want to acknowledge that fees have shifted since Hawke first introduced them. I can remember being at university in 1999 and protesting against the Howard government's plans to tier HECS, charging those studying a science based agreed more than those studying an arts degree. We have seen the impact of the tiering of HECS: people are paying more. Then the previous government flipped that, making it more expensive for people to study arts and law than to study science. As a result we have seen fewer people enrol in the arts and we've seen people on lower salaries having a higher HECS debt.

I do have some sympathy when we talk about student debt and HECS, and part of it goes to the way in which universities have marketed to people. Some people sign up to multiple courses and finish university without a degree or without a clear direction for where they want to go, but still having a debt. I understand that there is anxiety and frustration towards this in the community, but what is being proposed here today isn't a solution for the need to reform the sector and make sure it is more targeted and means based. Indexation ensures that the HECS-HELP loans maintain their real value over time, ensuring the long-term financial stability of the scheme. The government currently holds a $78 billion HECS debt. If we were to waive that it would break the system. It would see so many not get the opportunity to go to university, effectively closing the door to many. It's a reform that the sector could not cope with, and it's the taxpayer that would have to cover the cost.

The government's budget is targeted at supporting students through boosting Austudy, Abstudy and youth allowance as well as rent assistance. The Universities Accord, which is the first significant review of the higher education system in 15 years, has released its report, and it makes 47 recommendations, including how we can improve and build on the success of the HECS-HELP system to make it simpler and fairer. There is sympathy for making HECS simpler and fairer system, but it needs to be done in a methodical way that doesn't cause the sector to collapse. As the education minister has said, the government will consider all these recommendations and respond in the next few months. I acknowledge that debt is an issue, but what's being proposed isn't the solution to ensuring that more people can get an opportunity for a good education and that we don't collapse the sector at the same time.

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