Helen Kroger (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is with much pleasure that I rise to speak in support of the Social Security Amendment (Income Support for Regional Students) Bill 2010. Education is the keystone. It is central for any Western civilisation to provide opportunities for all Australians to have an opportunity to learn, to have an opportunity to go on to tertiary education, to provide a hand up, not a handout, so that our future, our children, can develop their own capacity to make their own way in the world. This legislation will ensure that every child, every student, has an even playing field and will have a chance to make something of themselves. We are not here talking about economic considerations, as we have just heard from Senator Cameron. What we are talking about here is providing access for all students so that they may have a chance to get on in life.

What the government has done has ensured that not everyone has an equal playing field and it directly discriminates against those in inner regional areas. This legislation is all about providing equitable access to support the important principles of choice so that tens of thousands of students will have the opportunity to choose to go on to tertiary education and not be hamstrung by things that this government is imposing upon their families. This government is seeking to pull the rug out from many aspiring kids and families and it should really seriously consider the implications of what it is planning.

Finding full-time employment in regional areas and small communities is often very difficult. Frankly, the current legislation does not take into account the realities of life in regional Australia. So many students living in inner regional areas in Victoria are currently missing out on the independent youth allowance because of the changes the Gillard Labor government has made to the eligibility criteria. Yet the government has continued to ignore these students’ concerns and the concerns of their families. Seasonal employment sectors in agriculture, in tourism, in fruit-picking in regional areas cannot provide work throughout an entire year and many of the students want to apply for independent youth allowance and are currently unable to do so. As well as this, regional students face significantly increased costs associated with relocating for study, which many regional students have no choice in. Many of them to pursue the studies of their interest have to move from their home and their family to pursue their area of interest, to pursue their aspirations. This is just another layer of bureaucracy, another layer of direct block, if you like, that is making it very difficult. It is blocking them and making it more difficult for them to make that choice.

Affording tertiary education is a real issue for all students but in particular for regional students and their families. The recent Senate inquiry found that only 33 per cent of regional students go on to tertiary education compared with 55 per cent of metropolitan students. It begs the question why. Why is it that so few regional students are able to pursue possible dreams to go on to tertiary education? This inequity has been fostered by the inaction of this government and it must now end. Under the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Income Support for Students) Act 2010, regional students living in the inner regional Australia zone on the Australian standard geographical classification map continue to be excluded from accessing independent youth allowance if they do not qualify for Labor’s new criteria. The coalition sought to move further amendments to include students living in the inner regional zone, because we listened to our constituents and we know what it is that is concerning them. We know this is a critical issue and we tried to address it.