Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is for the Minister representing the Minister for Education, Senator Watt. Yesterday the government announced changes to the HELP debts so they won't stop people from getting home loans. There are 50,000 people with HELP debts from Tassie who I'm sure were very pleased to hear it, but the government has made no change to fix a system that's made to punish graduates. A graduate on an average income is paying $2,000 more than they need to all because HELP debts don't count someone's yearly payments before charging interest. Why doesn't the government change the timing on indexation?

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

Thanks very much, Senator Tyrrell, for the question. I do appreciate getting questions from Senator Tyrrell, because I think Senator Tyrrell has asked me more questions than Senator Cash has in the entire time I have been in the industrial relations portfolio. In fact, it was 7 September 2023 that Senator Cash last asked a question about industrial relations. She went—

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

Minister Watt, I am going to draw you to the question.

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

I think Senator Tyrrell will appreciate this and I will get to the point shortly. Senator Cash went the entire year of 2024 without asking an industrial relations question, and that's because she knows her record is so bad.

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

Minister Watt! Senator Tyrrell, on a point of order?

Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, President, for drawing Senator Watt back to the question. Can we reinforce that?

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

Senator Watt, when I draw you back to the question, I do expect to you be drawn back to the question.

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

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

Senator Tyrrell, first supplementary?

Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last year, the government made changes to HELP debts so that they'd be indexed either by CPI or WPI, whichever was lowest. This will save a graduate zero dollars this year, but that graduate would save money this year if the timing on indexation was changed. Why did the government prioritise changes that don't save graduates money now instead of a change that would save them money every year?

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

Thanks, Senator Tyrrell. The government was particularly prompted to act in terms of the indexation rate for those university or VET loans because of the high inflation that Australia was experiencing when we first came to office. It's well understood that inflation was much higher when we came to office than it is now, due to the work that we've undertaken to get inflation down. The indexation rate that we set in the budget was designed to deal with that high inflation environment that we inherited when we first came to office and that did last for the first 12 months or so of our time in office. Thankfully, we've now managed to get inflation down. That's the outcome of the actions of the Albanese government. We've had two surpluses in a row. We didn't bother making 'Back in black' mugs; we just delivered surpluses. We got it done. We didn't need mugs. In the process, we brought inflation down, which is obviously good news for university and VET graduates, as it is for the entire Australian community.

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

Senator Tyrrell, second supplementary?

Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor says they're all about helping students and young people with the cost of living. You could help them now, but you won't. Why are you making them pay more on their HELP debt than they need to?

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