Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to very briefly reiterate my earlier comments. The amendment simply says that all regional students should be treated the same. By including the inner regional zone, all regional students should be treated the same. The government has this view that all men are equal but some are more equal than others. We think all regional students should be treated equally, not just some.

We have said all the way through this debate that we do recognise there are some parts of this legislation that are good: the increase to the thresholds, the relocation allowance and the start-up scholarships. We recognise there are a lot of students out there who are very keen to see that those happen, which is why we have been trying to negotiate an outcome so that those students who are keen to see those three areas of change go ahead are accommodated. We recognise that, but at the same time the negotiations were about ensuring that all regional students were treated fairly. The fact that this government has brought forward a deal that does not include fair and equitable treatment for all regional students is just appalling, and that is why we have moved this amendment.

On this side of the chamber, we are the coalition and we are in opposition. We hope that does not last too long, but we are in opposition. It is this government’s responsibility to deliver legislation for this country. It was Prime Minister Rudd and the Minister for Education, Ms Gillard, who made the decision to treat regional students unfairly. Do not anybody ever forget that. No matter any of the outcomes of this legislation, the coalition is in opposition and we have done our absolute best to make sure we get the best outcome for regional students. At the end of the day, it is the Labor Party in government and it is its choice to treat regional students unfairly. Quite frankly, the people of Australia should rally against that.