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

Thanks, Senator Tyrrell. I've already explained the reasons for the indexation rate changes and the fact that inflation now being significantly lower is good news for university graduates, in terms of the indexation of their loans.

I have to disagree with you on one point, though, when you say that we haven't helped university students—I can't remember the exact words that you used. We have not only taken action as a government around HELP loans and indexation rates but assisted students in a whole range of other ways. The increases that we've made to rent assistance have been particularly useful for students. I think I'm right in saying it's the biggest increase in rent assistance that any government has made in decades—a 45 per cent increase in rent assistance. Students are obviously big beneficiaries of that. Anyone on a low income, whether it be a student, an unemployed person or an elderly person, benefits from the work that we've done around increasing bulk-billing. Of course, there are the energy bill rebates, and let's remember who voted against every single one of them—all of those people over there.