Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Henderson, I don't believe any Australians are ordinary; I think they're all exceptional. They all work hard, and we want to see all those people    have the opportunity to get ahead, which is why we want to ensure that they can have access to a higher education degree, if that's what they want to pursue, but that it is also one that doesn't burden them into the future. So what I would point out are the comments from Bruce Chapman, who is the architect of HECS, and he had the following to say:

It is generally and correctly believed that the overall level of HECS-HELP debt has become excessive and that, in this context, a one-off 20 per cent cut in the level of debt is welcome …

That's from the architect of HECS, Bruce Chapman, with his comments on our recent announcement.