Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Well, this parliament is chock-a-block full of folks who had access to a free university education. From Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on down, there is a massive group of Labor MPs and current Labor ministers who had access to a free university education. It's the height of hypocrisy that now a government chock-a-block full of Labor folks who had access to a free university education supports massive charges in the form of HECS that actually saddle people who want to go to university with a massive debt.

Labor's announcement that they would wipe 20 per cent of student debt if they win the next election is testament to a massive community campaign—through a massive effort by so many people, including the Greens in this place led by our awesome deputy leader, Senator Mehreen Faruqi—not only against student debt but to wipe the entirety of student debt in this country. It is not only testament to that campaign but also a massive missed opportunity by Labor, because there is no reason, no reason at all, why Labor couldn't come in here and legislate that plan today. The numbers are here to pass that legislation through both houses of this parliament if the Labor Party would get on board.

Interestingly, Labor have introduced legislation to make some TAFE places fee-free in the future. They've introduced that legislation, but they are not introducing legislation to wipe 20 per cent off student debt. It is a toxic move by Labor to make that legislation contingent on their re-election. The Greens stand ready to legislate today to wipe 20 per cent off debt levels to give effect to Labor's new policy. In fact, we not only stand ready today but we will give Labor a chance to vote for their policy when we move an amendment to this legislation to wipe 20 per cent off student debt starting on 1 July next year. We don't need to wait for election to legislate to give effect to Labor's policy; we could do it now. We call on the Labor Party to stop playing base politics with this issue and actually start delivering for people who are getting smashed by high levels of student debt. People are hurting. People need relief now. They don't need that to be contingent on election results in the first half of next year.

What Labor are saying is that they don't have enough commitment to their own position to legislate for it now. What Labor is saying to people with students debt is, if you want 20 per cent wiped off your student debt, you have to do what the Labor Party is telling you. What Labor is saying and effectively admitting to people is that this isn't about their levels of student debt at all. It's not about people's levels of HECS debt; it's about trying to leverage votes for the Australian Labor Party. It's well beyond time that Labor got serious about this, like they are with their legislation to make some TAFE places fee-free. If it's good enough to legislate this year to make some TAFE places fee free in the future, then it should be good enough to legislate to wipe 20 per cent off student debt, and to give effect to that this year. But Labor's too interested in playing political games and not interested enough in actually doing something meaningful to help people who are getting smashed with high levels of HECS debt now.

What this exposes is that Labor is becoming more and more worried about young people in particular voting for the Greens. That's what this is about. We see you, Mr Albanese. We see you, Dr Chalmers. We see what you are doing. We see this cynical play where you are refusing to introduce legislation to give effect to your own position because you want to make the delivery of that position contingent on a particular election outcome. We see you, and we see right through you. That's why we're going to introduce amendments to this legislation that will give effect to your policy. Let's see what you do. Are you going to do the right thing and vote in support of your own policy to wipe 20 per cent off student debt from 1 July next year, or are you going to vote against your own policy? What you do here will make very clear what your motivations are. If you really care about people who are getting smashed by student debt, vote this week in this place to ensure that, from 1 July next year, 20 per cent will be wiped off student debt in this country.

If you are—and I suspect this is far more likely—simply announcing this policy as a cynical electoral ploy, that'll be revealed if you vote against your own policy. My prediction—and I make this with a high level of certainty—is that you're going to vote against your own policy this week. You're going to do that because you care more about yourselves than you do about people who are getting smashed by high levels of student debt. That's where we're going to find ourselves this week. People like Mr Albanese, who had access to free university education, and people in his cabinet and people in his caucus—dozens of them—who had access to free university education back in the day, are going to take a position that will expose them as nothing more than cynical political players. It will expose that they're actually not proposing this policy because they want to help people; they are proposing it because they think it's in their own electoral interests. That is the height of hypocrisy.

Student debt should be wiped completely in this country. University should be free in this country—like it used to be free, like it was free for the Prime Minister and like it was free for dozens of his cabinet and caucus colleagues. University should be free, because we should not be disincentivising people to go to university. We should be encouraging anyone who wants to go to university and get a tertiary education for free, just like it used to be. It is the height of hypocrisy for this Prime Minister, Mr Albanese, and for his dozens of caucus and cabinet colleagues who had free university education, to oppose a free university education today.

Well, let's see what you do when the Greens serve up your own policy to you this week. Let's see what you do. I predict very, very confidently that you're going to vote against your policy. You're going to vote against the Greens' attempts to legislate your own position, and, in doing so, you will expose the fact that you are not proposing to wipe 20 per cent off student debt levels in this country because you want to help people, but that you are doing it because it's in your own political self-interest to do so. If you were serious about helping people, you would vote this week to legislate your own policy.

The evolution of this debate and this issue shows the power of having the Greens on the crossbench in this place. And I use that word 'power' unashamedly. People put the Greens into this position of having the balance of power so that we could fight for them—so we could fight for things like putting dental and mental health into Medicare; so we could fight to raise income support; so we could fight for climate action; so we could fight to save our beautiful forests; so we could fight to make GP visits free; so we could fight to make big corporations pay their fair share of tax; so we could use that revenue to help people who are getting smashed by the cost of living and accelerate the transition into renewable energy. That's why people put us in this place, and that power and that campaign—where we have worked hand in hand with so many thousands in the Australian community to campaign to wipe student debt—has actually led the Labor Party into a position where they have had no choice but to do something. And—classic Labor—they've decided to do the bare minimum. But at least this one is a step in the right direction. Wiping 20 per cent off student debt is not as strong as it should be, because what we should be doing in this country is wiping all of student debt, but wiping 20 per cent off it is a good start and a step in the right direction, so legislate it. Legislate it this week.

By moving an amendment, we'll give you the opportunity to legislate your own position. What are you going to do? Are you going to vote with us in favour of your own position, or are you going to vote against it and, I confidently predict, line up with the opposition, in opposition to your own policy? What we're going to see—mark my words, folks—is a Labor Party voting against its own position, because it doesn't want to legislate this now. This has never been about doing the right thing; it has only ever been about appearing to do the right thing. Pressured by the community, pressured by the Australian Greens, the Labor Party has taken a classic Labor position: take the bare minimum, and then don't actually do it; just do something that makes it look like you're doing it, and tie it to an election outcome. It's classic Australian Labor Party—all about Labor, not about the people in our community.

Well, the Greens are here to fight for people in our community, and that is why we are intending to serve up Labor's policy to the Australian Labor Party this week. That is why we are going to move amendments to this bill that would legislate Labor's position of wiping 20 per cent off student debt on 1 July next year. That's what this Senate should vote for. We're going to give the Senate an opportunity to vote for that. We call on Labor to join us to legislate the position that they themselves have taken and to do the right thing for people who are getting smashed by excessive levels of student debt. We should wipe student debt. It should be dead, buried and cremated in this country. If the Labor Party won't do that, we're going to offer them the opportunity to legislate their own policy, and we demand the Labor Party join with us and provide much-needed relief.