STATEMENTS
Ms FRANCE (Dickson) (21:18): Here are a few things that you'll never hear young people in my electorate of Dickson say: 'Nah, I don't want 20 per cent off my student debt. Please don't help me with my student debt. I just don't want more money in my pocket as a result of the Albanese Labor government's cost-of-living measures.' You will never hear young people in my electorate of Dickson make these comments.
But do you know who didn't want cost-of-living help for students? Do you know who argued against 20 per cent off student debt? Surprise, surprise!
It was those opposite. Before the election, Liberal Party members said reducing student debt was elitist, profoundly unfair and reckless. And we have just heard from the members for New England, Gippsland and the Riverina, and it's obvious they don't support this measure.
They don't support 20 per cent off student debt. I am here to put on the record that students and young people in my electorate of Dickson very much appreciate Labor fulfilling its promise to help students with the cost of living by cutting their student debts by 20 per cent. They love this policy, and they love that we are delivering on what we promised.
The average student will see their debt cut by about $5,520. Pemay, in my electorate—who helped out on my campaign; thank you, Pemay—will have a student debt of $18,000 in her first year at uni. She will save $3,600.
Twenty-one-year-old Spencer's student debt loan is currently over $28,000. He will save $5,659. Cleo's is $33,650.
She will save $6,730. Rueben, in my electorate, currently has a student loan of $6,200. She will save $1,240.
Better yet, Rueben told me that, thanks to the Labor government's 20 per cent cut, she has decided to enrol in post-graduate research in education this semester. This legislation will cut student debt by more than $16 billion for over three million Australians, which, in turn, will help students pay the rent, pay the bills and pay for food while they are all learning to be our country's workers of the future.
I studied journalism at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba. Going to university didn't just further my education; it opened up my worldview. I was surrounded by people who saw the world differently from me and who had come from different backgrounds from mine.
That experience was so important and informs my role today as the member for Dickson. Everybody in my electorate should have the opportunity to go to university. Cutting student debt will not only help with the bills but also create generational change in electorates like mine.
At the moment, around 45 per cent of young people in their 20s and 30s have a university degree. But that's just not the case in Dickson. For example, in Strathpine, that number is only 12.4 per cent.
But that uptake is improving. Twenty thousand people in my entire electorate will benefit from this debt reduction. The people of Strathpine who get to university are certainly not rich, as suggested by the member for Gippsland.
Getting to university is already an uphill battle for many people in my electorate. Cutting the costs of getting an education will hopefully encourage more young people in my electorate to undertake higher education. To suggest that this policy only benefits city people, as the previous members opposite have described, is absolutely ridiculous.
That's why we are funding paid prac for nurses, teachers and social workers. That's why we've opened a new study hub in Strathpine, that's why we've delivered more free TAFE and that's why today we passed legislation to reduce student debt by 20 per cent. We don't want students who are already struggling to get overwhelmed by debt.
I was so disappointed when, before the recent election, the coalition attacked this policy, and many young people in my electorate were too. Many of them joined my campaign because they wanted a reduction in their student debt. I was disappointed to see the argument that Aussies will see no benefit from this policy.
It demonstrates that those opposite have zero understanding of young working-class people who aspire to higher education, like those in my electorate of Dickson. Getting an education shouldn't mean decades of debt. No matter where you live or how much you earn or how much is in your bank account, everyone should have the opportunity to further their education.
No-one should be put off by the cost. The Albanese Labor government is committed to continuing to deliver cost-of-living relief to all Australians. In even better news for young people in Dickson, the legislation will be backdated to 1 June 2025, before this year's indexation occurred, and it includes all Higher Education Loan Program loans, vocational education and training student loans, Australian apprenticeship support loans, student startup loans and other student loans.
Importantly, it will also raise the minimum amount you have to earn before you have to start making repayments. The Albanese Labor government promised that a bill to cut student debt would be the very first bill introduced in this new parliament. That is exactly what we have done.
It is the very first bill to be introduced in my time as the member for Dickson, and I could not be prouder.