Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Gallagher. Since we last met, the Albanese Labor government has continued to focus on cost-of-living relief for all Australians. In addition to the announcement in August that we would wipe $3 billion off student debt, the government has now gone further, wiping a further 20 per cent off all student loans for three million Australians and cutting debt repayment rates. Minister, why has the government taken this approach? How will it assist people who have student debts with the cost of living?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Sheldon for this really important question and for highlighting the work that's been done since we last sat to look at ways that we can continue to roll out both effective and responsible cost-of-living relief and also some support for young people in this country, particularly as we know that we need more and more of them to go to university and TAFE to make sure they can secure the job opportunities of the future and so that Australia can secure its economic opportunities ahead.

As our leader has said this afternoon, the Labor government wants Australians to earn more and keep more of what they earn and not pay more than they should. So we've been really focused on ways that we can assist Australians with student debt, often younger Australians, and we did that in the budget by initially dealing with that indexation challenge that we had, which will wipe $3 billion off student debt and put in place a long-term, lasting reform around the indexation rate that applies to people with student debts.

By cutting the debt and increasing the repayment thresholds, which is part of this new announcement, we are freeing up money for other costs that young people face, like moving out of home, furnishing a home, buying a car or saving a deposit for a home. Our policy cuts a further 20 per cent off all student loans, which will benefit around three million Australians. This represents around $16 billion in cuts, reducing the debt burden for Australians with a student loan. Someone with the average HELP debt of $27,600 will see around $5,520 wiped from that debt from next year. In August, we introduced a bill to cap the HELP indexation rate to be the lower of the CPI or the WPI and impose that retrospectively— (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Sheldon, a first supplementary?

Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, it is clear that Labor's HELP debt policy will make life easier for three million Australians, particularly young Australians. How is the government supporting the rest of the community with cost-of-living relief, and can the minister outline progress made to tackle inflation?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Sheldon for the supplementary. These are the key priorities that we've been working on since coming to government. Again, as Senator Wong outlined in her answers to questions earlier, we inherited an inflation challenge that was increasing. It was about 6.1 per cent. It peaked at 7.8 per cent at the end of that calendar year, and we have been getting it down. We've been absolutely focused on how we can bring inflation down in a way that supports households that are doing it tough.

That's why we have been looking at initiatives like energy bill relief, investments in child care, free TAFE and more money going into Medicare. All of these are areas where investments are felt at the hip pocket but don't add to the inflation challenge that we have been trying to manage. Getting costs down, getting wages moving and getting inflation back to where it should be has been a key focus of our economic plan. The data we are seeing in relation to inflation is very promising. (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Sheldon, a second supplementary?

Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, what challenges have the government faced in delivering cost-of-living relief to all Australians, and how can the Senate work together to ensure that people with student debt can get some relief?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Senator Sheldon. As we will see in the next week or so, the Senate could support the reforms that are before the parliament. We have important reforms not only to indexation arrangements but also to implementing aspects of the Universities Accord. We want to make sure our vocational education and training system and our higher education system broadly is geared, supported and invested in by this government to make sure that people have the choices going forward, whether they want to take up a trade, get a certificate or enrol in a bachelor's degree or even a further degree beyond that. We are about investing in that system and making it easier for people to take up those choices. We will remain focused on that. But, certainly, one thing the Senate could do is support the government and not oppose all our measures, as those opposite have consistently done for the last 2½ years.