Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to continue speaking to the Higher Education Support Legislation Amendment (Student Loan Sustainability) Bill 2018. We've come a long way in our attitude towards higher education in this nation. In my days at school, there was a predominant focus on trades and jobs that relied on learning in the workplace. But, over decades, there has been a shift in our way of thinking and in the way in which we learn. As well, many jobs that existed are no longer, and many occupations now available weren't dreamed of then. Since the 1950s we have seen the number of students attaining university entrance in Australia raise from 30,600 to a whopping 1.3 million. Over the last 70 years, more than 28 million people have graduated from higher education in this country, and our universities have produced some of the greatest minds in the world. As well as this, our universities rate with the best in the world. Currently, we have a range of higher education providers across Australia, including 38 public universities and four others which are classified as private, plus around 125 other institutions providing a variety of higher education services.

Our nation's universities were originally established to provide qualifications in professions such as medicine and law, as well as traditional liberal arts learning. This is very different to our broad selection on offer today, including courses for careers that weren't even thought of in my day. Included in this is something called 'gender studies'. Why a university would offer a course on gender studies but not the study on the history of Western civilisation I can neither understand nor support. That aside, I'm pleased to say that higher education in this nation is no longer just for the well-off. It is now a choice within the reach of everyone who works to get there. This is because the government subsidises course fees in our 38 public universities to an average of around 58 per cent.

Students supplied with a Commonwealth-supported place can their borrow their contribution, which is half the real cost of their education, until they have a sufficient income to repay it. With generous subsidies and student loans available to students attending universities, financial status is no longer a barrier to post-secondary study. However, there still exist barriers according to postcode, with a greater discrepancy of rates for students from rural and regional areas—I'll return to this point soon. That said, this parliament has a duty to ensure the money we lend to students to ensure their financial security is recognised as a debt to the people of Australia, and to require that it is paid back as soon as possible. With more than 3.8 million students enrolled in 9,444 schools across Australia today, we have an obligation to them and to those who will be born tomorrow to ensure that the scheme is sustainable, that their access to higher education in the future is assured. Already we have areas of skills deficits, and professions which rely on overseas recruitment. If our economy is to grow, especially in regional areas, we need to think about how we can skill our young people to meet these needs.

What we do need to do is ensure that the training they get is in line with what Australia's industries need, and this is not necessarily all provided by universities. We need skilled tradesmen and others to be well skilled across a range of occupations and industries, for productive participation in our economy. A university qualification should not be the only career pathway provided to young people. They need to see that alternative pathways are just as worthwhile and will lead to a good life. But, to do this, there need to be quality training alternatives available to them.

Over the past decades, the TAFE system has been progressively downgraded by governments as more students have opted for a university education in preference to the occupational training that TAFE offered. We now have to move to reverse this through a stronger TAFE system, thereby giving a real choice to our young people in training and career aspirations.

The people of Australia are currently owed $42 billion for student loans. I'll repeat that: $42 billion for student loans. That's 2.6 million Australians with an outstanding student loan debt. The debt would have been $48 billion, but this government wrote off $6 billion of student loans in the last year. This was a lesson about what happens when there is insufficient accountability for public funds. Under the then VET loan scheme, too many young people were tricked by shoddy operators into signing up to dodgy courses and ended up with a debt they were unaware they had to repay. Thankfully, compliance measures now in place should protect against this in the future.

The Productivity Commission estimates that the value of outstanding student loans will quadruple to $200 billion by 2025. Let's face it, that figure will effectively negate any surplus this government thinks it will have in coming in years. From 30 June 2014 through until 30 June 2017, the level of debt not expected to be repaid rose from 17 per cent to 25 per cent. That equates to about $1 in every $6 lent, or now $1 in every $4 lent.

In the banking sector, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission mandates responsible lending. This is determined by two specific questions: (1) has the lender made reasonable inquiries about the borrower's financial situation and their requirements and objectives? And (2) has the lender taken reasonable steps to verify that the consumer's financial situation supports their capacity to repay? To relate this to the student loan scheme, the questions to be asked are: is there a reasonable expectation that the student will successfully complete the course; and will this lead to getting a job?

I'm not convinced that this happens, and in some cases young people with low entry scores are being enrolled. That is, they're being set up to fail. On top of this, there are those undertaking studies which have little likelihood of leading to a paid job. It is in everyone's interests that students are required to meet the entry levels set for their chosen course of study before they qualify for a loan. This, in turn, gives a reasonable expectation that they will successfully complete their studies and go on to get employment in their chosen field. We have an obligation, not only to the students who want to borrow money under this scheme but to the taxpayers who fund it. When one in four students will never pay back the money they borrow, I question whether we are doing the right thing by our young people. And, at the same time, we are setting this loan scheme up for failure. I won't sit back and see it fail.

Pauline Hanson's One Nation will be supporting this Higher Education Support Legislation Amendment (Student Loan Sustainability) Bill 2018. I support the changes to rein in student debt under the scheme, but place on notice that I will be looking at ways that it can be further reduced. The new thresholds are well supported by facts. Those facts say that graduates easily have the means to start repaying their loans with an income of $44,999 or above. Remember, the bill proposes that at this starting level the required payment is only one per cent of their taxable income. That is only about $8 a week at the lowest income level.

According to the 2015 report released by Graduate Careers Australia, which details median starting salaries in various categories of graduate jobs, all but two categories will earn above the $44,999 starting income that the bill proposes, and these are 2015 salary levels. These include dentistry, optometry, medicine, education, earth science, engineering, mathematics, social work, law, paramedical studies, computer science, accounting, agricultural science, biological sciences, economics and business, physical science, psychology, veterinary science, humanities, social sciences, and agriculture and building. The lowest-paid graduate job category, art and design, shows a starting salary of $40,000 per annum. Every single one of these degrees will set graduates up with the prospect of a full-time job and the capacity to repay, at the very least, one per cent of the money borrowed to obtain their education. Let's remember that the earning potential of first-year graduates will only grow over time.

I want to comment on the second reading amendment by Senator Hanson-Young. This amendment claims that the government is cutting $2.2 billion from universities when it is not a cut but a freeze. I believe the freeze is warranted given the growth in funding to universities that we have seen in recent years, ever since they were given open slather in enrolling students regardless of their academic achievement. Sarah Hanson-Young's amendment also says that the bill 'makes students pay back more of their debt sooner'. No, they're not paying back more of their debt; their paying back their debt sooner. I expect nothing less from the Greens than a play on words, and not being really up-front and honest with the people.