Terri Butler (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There are a large number of university students in my electorate of Griffith as well as a large number of school-aged children. Like many people, I am very concerned about the effect of university deregulation and cuts in this government's rotten budget. When the budget was announced the vice-chancellor of the University of Queensland expressed concerns that many students would be hit by a double whammy of more onerous loan provisions due to changes in HECS-HELP, coupled with higher fees due to cuts to Commonwealth grants support. I assume that a lot of people have been raising similar concerns about that and many other aspects of this rotten budget, because yesterday Treasurer Hockey said in relation to the budget: 'There are other alternatives that we can take.'

The government should now turn to its Commission of Audit recommendations—that Commission of Audit that it set up to recommend the cuts to be made—and should now rule out the cuts in that Commission of Audit report as part of those budget alternatives that the Treasurer mentioned yesterday. The government should rule out the commission's recommendation for a slower rollout of the NDIS; it should rule out the commission's recommendation of an increase in the GP tax to $15; it should rule out abolishing Family Tax Benefit Part B; and it should rule out cuts to the minimum wage. I call on the government to do so when it comes to this government's priorities—they are twisted.