Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Education. Student debt is crushing millions of people, shackling them in a lifetime of debt, blocking people out of getting their first home, making it harder to make ends meet, causing people to delay having families and even crushing their dream of going to uni. After years of relentless pressure, Labor is adopting parts of the Greens' policy to start to cancel some student debt. But what are you waiting for? Why are you dangling your pledge to cancel 20 per cent of student debt as an election bribe? Minister, will you commit to introducing legislation this week to lock in your government's pledge on cancelling 20 per cent of student debt and increasing the repayment threshold?

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

Thank you, Senator Faruqi, for highlighting yet another commitment of the Albanese Labor government to do something about the cost-of-living pressures that Australians are facing. We've had questions before from Senator Hodgins-May about the early childhood education and care payments that it took a Labor government to provide, and I appreciate you highlighting the commitment from a Labor government to deliver a reduction in student debt.

This is a very important change that took a Labor government to provide—not a Greens government, because that will never exist, and not a coalition government, that's for sure, because they were about loading up student debt. It took a Labor government to actually commit to cutting a further 20 per cent off all student loan debts, which will wipe around $16 billion in debt for around three million Australians.

That comes on top of the measures that we announced in this year's budget to change the indexation rate for students who had taken out significant debts, which grew exponentially under a coalition government. Again, it took a federal Labor government—the Albanese Labor government—to make the necessary changes to relieve that kind of pressure on students. I'm very proud of the fact that it is the Albanese Labor government that has now made a commitment to cutting 20 per cent off all student loan debts. That means that, for students with a debt of about $20,000 to $30,000, it's a reduction of $4,000 to $6,000 in their debt. For students with a debt of $30,000 to $40,000, it's a reduction of $6,000 to $8,000 in their debt. For students with debts of $50,000 to $60,000, which is about 147,500 Australians, it's a reduction of $10,000 to $12,000.

We've also heard, over the last week, the coalition oppose this policy, because they want students to have it even harder when they're trying to save up for house deposits. They want life to get harder for Australians, whether they're students, workers or anyone else.

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

Senator Faruqi, first supplementary?

Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question was about when and not what. Minister, people need certainty on student debt relief right now. The vast majority of people burdened with student debt are young people and women, who also bear the brunt of the housing and rental crisis and the cost-of-living crisis. In the absence of any government legislation, will you support Greens amendments to the Universities Accord bill to lock in your pledge to cancel 20 per cent of student debt and give people certainty right now—not next year and not after the election?

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

Unfortunately, we're in a situation where the Greens party of Australia, undeterred by their recent shellacking in the Queensland and ACT elections, have decided to double-down on their policies and continue obstructing Labor as we attempt to deliver real improvements for students, for workers and for people looking for housing.

Senator Faruqi included in her question the point that Australians are struggling to deal with lack of housing. Yes, they are. I wonder if there's someone in this chamber who could do something about that. Yes, there is. Their party name is a colour. Work out who that is. It's the Greens party who, by voting for our Help to Buy legislation, could be doing something to help Australians struggling with housing. It's the Greens party who, by voting for Labor's legislation around student debt, could be doing something to relieve student debt. But, instead of that, all you do is obstruct and ask questions about things that you'll never actually deliver.

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

Senator Faruqi, second supplementary?

Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, people are tired of being used as pawns in political games about their lives that are being played by Labor. You have a chance to show right now that Labor cares about people being crushed by student debt. Why won't you stop playing political games and actually legislate right now?

Government Senators:

Government senators interjecting—

Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, you can laugh. You don't care about people.

Honourable senators interjecting—

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

Order! I'm going to wait for the chamber to come to order before I call the minister.

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

I really have seen it all—a Greens party senator asking questions about political games. Really? The party who thrives on grandstanding and the party who will take any stage to grandstand, even if that's to line up with disgraced leaders of the CFMEU—that's how much you will grandstand—now wants to come in here and lecture other people about political games and using people as pawns.

For many months now, the Labor Party has had legislation, Help to Buy, in this chamber to literally help Australians to buy their own homes, and what has the Greens party done? They've stood in the way and joined up with Peter Dutton and the coalition to block that going ahead. Please don't give us a lecture about political games. We know that not all of the Greens party think that way. Senator Faruqi was giving voice to the extreme faction of the Greens party, which wants to block everything that Labor tries to do. We know there are other Greens who don't support that kind of approach and actually want to get things done. Maybe they'll eventually get something done and back in Labor when we're doing something. (Time expired)