Labor’s student placement bill is about saving themselves money
Independent Senator Tammy Tyrrell won’t be reaching for the confetti to celebrate the introduction of Labor’s Universities Accord (Student Support) bill.
“Guess how much students will save on their HECS debt next year because of the Government’s change to index HECS at either wage price index (WPI) or CPI? $0.
“WPI is rarely ever lower than CPI and when it is, it means everyone is getting poorer. Adding to every taxpayer's bill when everyone is getting poorer seems a funny way to make the system fairer.
“It’s the HECS debt system that needs to change. Unlike the Government’s policy, indexing HECS debts after the annual repayments have come off will save students money every single year.
“I didn’t go to university. My family couldn’t afford for me to go. I don’t want a HECS debt to stop kids from Tassie or kids from poorer families from following their dreams.”
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