Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks, Senator Tyrell. We share your interest in supporting graduates when it comes to their HELP debts. We have, as I'm sure you would be aware, announced a couple of different measures to assist in that regard. First of all—I think it was this year's budget; it may have been last year's budget—we adjusted the indexation rate for university graduates and also for VET graduates. There's been a lot of attention on the benefits of these changes for university graduates, but, equally, they benefit graduates from vocational education and training courses who've taken out loans as well. That indexation rate has been adjusted to try to make life easier. We've also made a commitment that, should we be elected to a second term in office, we will discount the debts owed by graduates of either universities or vocational education by 20 per cent, something that I think has been very well received by students and graduates right around the country, including in Tasmania. We know that Mr Dutton and the coalition opposed that measure, just as they have opposed every single step that we've taken to assist with the cost of living for your constituents in Tasmania. You would have seen this week, Senator Tyrell, that we've made an additional announcement about helping graduates with their home loans through changes in HELP, and we'll continue to take that work up.