Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to begin by acknowledging the member for Holt, who has moved this motion, because it's such a critically important policy area. We in this government know that, and that's why we're putting in place such significant reforms in response to the Australian Universities Accord to provide cost-of-living relief for students and to make higher education better and fairer for students. That's what government can do: real outcomes for the students that need it.

We all value the importance of a good-quality education. We understand that. I'm the son of migrants from Egypt who escaped a region engulfed by war. Every day they told me, growing up, that education was so important to my future and that I needed to study, to do my homework and to get a degree to have a better life. In Australia, I received a quality education that gave me opportunities throughout life and the opportunity to make a contribution in return. Frankly, education opens the door to opportunity. It is the key that opens the door because it gives people an opportunity to actually fulfil their potential.

Not everyone wants to, or can, do tertiary or higher education. But, for those who want that choice, there should be that opportunity—regardless of their background, regardless of their ethnicity, regardless of whether they're a migrant, regardless of whether they're from the inner city or from the regions, regardless of whether they were born in Australia or migrated here and regardless of their socioeconomic disadvantage. Education is the great leveller of our society, and it's incumbent upon all of us who were fortunate to receive such an education to make sure that more Australians are afforded these same opportunities.

That is why the Labor government is wiping $3 billion in student debt for three million Australians, many of whom are young people who need that assistance desperately. There are young people who work in my electorate, at the checkout in ALDI in Coburg North, at the accountants on Sydney Road or at the reception at the Glenroy family clinic. These are people doing part-time work just to get through their studies—we know that experience—and the cost of living has squeezed these young people the hardest. With inflation at 7.1 per cent last year and HECS payments indexed to this inflation, young people with debts of $50,000 would have been slapped with a $3,500 indexation cost—no more.

I personally know many students who have attempted to pay their fees upfront, rather than rely on HECS, to avoid those sky-high indexations. This completely defeats the point of the HECS system. No amount of sacrificing cups of coffee or breakfast is going to make a difference when you've got such a debt mounting out of your control. That's why the student debt that is here is so important under a Labor government that's here to stay. HECS loans will now be indexed to the CPI or the wage price index, whichever is lower. If your wages aren't growing, your debt shouldn't be either.

That's why we've introduced a Commonwealth prac payment for teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students. Unpaid prac is something I've been concerned about for years. I've heard the stories of how many in my community have had to give up their paid work commitments in order to do unpaid placement that is often quite far from home. That's not good enough. We know that there is a shortage of teachers and nurses in this country. The last thing we want is for students in these professions, in this stream, to defer their studies or withdraw altogether due to the increased costs involved in placements and their reduced capacity to do paid work. That's exactly the kind of wealth barrier that our government is committed to removing, and remove it we have.

That's why Labor is also making sure there are fully funded uni-ready courses for these students. We want to do more than just remove barriers to education. We want to actively encourage and incentivise skills and training. That's why the Albanese government has set a target of 80 per cent of the workforce having a tertiary qualification by 2050 and it's why we're fully funding uni ready courses. That's going to help make sure all Australians have access to an affordable, quality education.

This is why it's so important: education is so much more than just a commodity to be monetised; it's one of the strongest tools we have to improve our health outcomes, gender equality and socioeconomic disadvantage. The cost of living has squeezed so many young people. Under this Labor government, young people will be able to pursue their studies without the dragon of indexed debt breathing down their necks. If you're a child of migrants, you'll know what it's like to have your parent say, 'No matter what you do, just please focus on your studies, because we want you to have a better life.' Not everyone can go to med school. Whether you choose to study at TAFE or get one degree or two, you should not face barriers that are insurmountable. Under a Labor government, education is an investment, not a liability.

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