Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Minister Watt, representing the Minister for Education. Every week I hear heartbreaking stories about students struggling to put food on the table, pay for medicine, afford a train or bus ticket, pay bills or pay rent. One 19-year-old Queensland University of Technology student said that she has not eaten fresh fruit and vegetables for at least a month and relies on instant noodles. She struggles to afford period products. At UNSW, hundreds of students are lining up in queues for free food. This is causing intolerable financial stress and mental health impacts for students. Can you look these students in the eye and tell them that you can spare $254 billion for the wealthy and $368 billion for war machines but nothing for them?