Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I could not help myself but allow a member of the Nationals to stand up in this place for the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bill Shorten. Doesn't that just say it all? We have this grubby deal. Labor has folded into the arms of the coalition, desperate for somebody to love them. And here came Mr Bill Shorten, Leader of the Opposition, and his ALP cronies. They are going to vote on this legislation today but they have no idea what harsh cuts this is going to cause students, the disabled and single parents. You have to be wondering what it is that the Labor Party stands for, because they are not standing up for the disabled, they are not standing up for single mothers and they are definitely not standing up for students.

One of the reasons I wanted to speak on this legislation today is that the cuts to the relocation scholarships of students is one of the meanest things this government could be doing, and one of the most hypocritical things the Labor Party could be agreeing to. I have been in the Senate for over six years now and how many times have we debated and inquired into the need for extra support for rural and regional students across Australia. We know that the barriers they have in accessing higher education and higher education opportunities are above and beyond what their city and suburban peers have to face.

In the past the Greens have worked with members such as Senator Fiona Nash, who I see has just walked into the chamber. It would be good to hear from Senator Nash about how she feels about cutting almost half a billion dollars straight out of the pockets of students, particularly rural and regional students, who are about to be hit hardest because of the cuts to relocation scholarships.

Honest to God, this is an attack on students, on the most vulnerable in our community, those on disability pensions and on single mothers. And what have we got from the Labor Party? 'Sorry, Mr Abbott, we did not mean to make so much noise. Here, let's just flick it through on the last day of this sitting fortnight'—a half a billion in cuts to students alone, let alone all the other mean things this government is wanting to do. I wonder if after this Bill Shorten is going to sit out the back and be invited by Treasurer Joe Hockey for a bit of a puff on the old cigar. 'Thanks mate, we got it through.' Seriously, how grubby does this deal have to get?

Honourable senators interjecting—