Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australians with existing HELP debts and current students, like my son Stanley, have all welcomed Labor's decision to change the way their debt is indexed and to fix last year's CPI indexation lurch of 7.1 per cent. One person with a HELP debt who contacted my office said, 'The relief is incredibly welcome.' Another said: 'Thanks for listening to uni students and alumni across the country. Changing the way student debt is calculated benefits all students for years to come.' This decision reflects both Labor's core value of fairness and also our commitment to education and the transformative opportunities it brings.

That's why, shortly after we took government, we commissioned the Australian Universities Accord, the first wide-ranging review of the tertiary education sector in 15 years. The final report was released in February and is a blueprint for a better and fairer higher education system. A key part of this is capping the HELP indexation rate at the lower of either the consumer price index or wage price index. Backdated to 1 June 2023, it means three million Australians will have their debt cut.

I'll leave my last words to one of my constituents, who said: 'When last year's indexation hit, I was rightfully upset. This is going to make a such big impact in my life. It's great all parts of the government are focused on ways to help us with the cost of living.' Can I say particularly that my son Stanley appreciates HELP, because when he found out that he's paying it he suddenly focused his attention at university and is now passing everything!