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

I rise to speak to the Trade Support Loans Amendment Bill 2023. The bill amends the Trade Support Loans Act 2014 to rename the current Trade Support Loans scheme to Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans. It removes the current Trade Support Loans priority list and instead allows the minister to determine via legislative instrument a new Australian apprenticeships priority list on eligible priority occupations. Currently, non-trade apprentices can't access trade support loans, and this bill would effectively enable the minister to expand eligibility for these loans to students completing early childhood education and care, aged-care and disability-care courses. The explanatory memorandum to the bill states these changes will mean that, amidst a cost-of-living crisis, more people can access immediate financial support to help them complete apprenticeships and traineeships that lead to work in sectors experiencing skills shortages.

The Greens support changes to expand fairer access to financial support, especially for feminised professions, but we can't ignore the elephant in the room: student debt. Student debt is out of control. After student debt was hiked by a whopping 7.1 per cent in June, countless students reached out to us angry, fearful and anxious, many of them having debt which increased by the same as or more than they had repaid over the past year. One student worked tirelessly to pay off $1,000 of student debt over 12 months, only for the same amount to be added back after indexation. That student described indexation as 'breaking their soul'. Another worked a second job to pay $15,000 off their student debt only for $7,000 to be added back after indexation. Student debt is rising faster than it can be paid off, and we need urgent action to address this right now.

Trade support loans are yet another loan category, like HECS, which are indexed annually in line with inflation. Like HECS, trade support loans were increased by 7.1 per cent this year after being increased by 3.9 per cent last year. Like HECS, trade support loans are estimated to be indexed at 3.9 per cent yet again next year. This would mean that, in just two years of a Labor government, trade support debts would rise by a whopping 15 per cent. This is just ridiculous, and it's harmful. The rising burden of student debt is causing harm every single day. Soaring student debt is locking people out of the housing market. It is crushing dreams of further study and making the cost-of-living crisis worse. I will be moving amendments in the committee stage to end indexation on trade support loans to prevent these loans trapping people in a debt spiral and to raise the minimum repayment income for these loans to the median wage so that people only have to start repaying these loans once they are earning a decent income. This will help many young people who are struggling to afford food and rent on a shamefully low youth allowance rate to avoid the added pressure of needing to pay off their student debts before they are capable of doing so while still living in dignity. The reality, though, is that, instead of forcing young apprentices and trainees to go into debt to fund basic living expenses, Labor should lower the age of independence for youth allowance from 22 to 18 and raise all student social security payments above the poverty line to at least $88 per day. That is the way to alleviate a cost-of-living crisis.

Right now in this country, people are struggling to afford groceries, to pay for medicine or period products, to afford train or bus tickets and to pay weekly bills. We can't just sit here and do nothing about that. People are struggling to keep a roof over their heads. They are facing rent hikes which are out of control. Students are surviving on instant noodles and lining up in queues for free food.

The situation gets even worse for students who are required to work for free as part of the courses for which they will be paying off debt for decades. It should be the other way around, really. Degrees should be free and students should be paid for the work that they do. In what world does it make sense to not be paid for weeks and months of work that students are required to do as part of their degrees? Inflation is increasing because of corporate profits, but wages clearly aren't. Students are working multiple jobs and cutting back on necessities but still barely scraping by.

It is an absolute travesty that the Labor government is allowing this to go on. An education system that pushes students further into inequality is a completely broken system, and a welfare system that doesn't lift people above the poverty line to ensure that they are living in dignity is an utterly cruel one. Something needs to be done right now, and the government has the power to do it. With the progressive majority in the Senate, Labor has the power to lift people out of poverty immediately. Instead, they're choosing to plunge people further into debt.

It is short-sighted for the government to be addressing education affordability by extending access to loans in the way the government is doing through this bill. This just isn't good enough. There are so many more meaningful things the government could be doing. Like I said earlier, they could lower the age of independence for youth allowance from 22 to 18 and raise all income support payments above the poverty line to at least $88 per day. They could take meaningful action for renters by implementing a national rent freeze and rent caps. They could wipe student debt, pay students a living wage for placements and make uni and TAFE free. There is much more to be done, but, as a start, the government could scrap indexation and raise the minimum repayment income to the median wage and reverse the coalition's fee hikes and funding cuts. It is very disappointing that Universities Australia Accord's interim report does not make any recommendations to take these actions that are urgently needed.

There is absolutely no doubt that the government can afford measures to give much needed cost-of-living relief to students. It's just a matter of priorities. Labor is choosing to splash around $313 billion in tax cuts for the wealthiest and $368 billion on dangerous war machines. Labor have been boasting about their $20 billion surplus, but, despite all of this, apparently it is too costly to support struggling students and those doing it the toughest. That is a real shame.

The Greens will be moving a second reading amendment to highlight that this bill does nothing to mitigate the student debt crisis at a time when student and training debts are increasing at an out-of-control pace. Our second reading amendment calls on the government to ensure that students and apprentices do not acquire further debt while completing their education. We want to make sure that students and apprentices are paid when undertaking mandatory vocational placements and, ultimately, we want to make university and TAFE fee free and wipe all student and training debt.

I move:

At the end of the motion, add ", but the Senate:

(a) notes that this bill does nothing to mitigate the student debt crisis at a time when student and training debts are increasing at an out-of-control pace; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

(i) ensure that students and apprentices do not acquire further debt when accessing government support to complete their training,

(ii) pay students and apprentices when undertaking mandatory vocational placements,

(iii) make university and TAFE fee-free; and

(iv) wipe all student and training debt".