Labor and Greens take aim at student debt
More than 50,000 Tasmanian students and graduates would be worse off if a Liberal government was elected and cancelled higher education debt relief, Labor says.
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More than 50,000 Tasmanian students and graduates would be worse off if a Liberal government was elected and cancelled higher education debt relief, Labor says.
Labor’s candidate for Franklin Julie Collins said the Albanese Labor Government had wiped around $3bn in higher education student debt nationally and would cut outstanding balances by another 20 per cent if re-elected.
Changes to repayment thresholds would bring down repayments further, she said.
“Peter Dutton and the Liberals have said that they don’t support this policy and they won’t support this policy,” she said.
“There are 53,000 plus students in Tasmania, or former students, who have a HECS debt, who will see the reduction under a re-elected Albanese Labor government.
“If you want your HECS debt reduced, need to vote Labor. Otherwise you’d be supporting Peter Dutton and his $600bn nuclear plan.”
Recent science graduate Liam Mclaren said the changes were a huge help.
“I’m currently at about $39,000 in debt after graduating from my degree and this 20 per cent wiping is about $9,000 for me. So that’s a huge thing.
“And then obviously the recent changes that we’ve had, with the indexation and the backdating of indexation, I’ve already lost $1500 off my debt when I logged in last night and had a look.”
Labor’s candidate for Clark Heidi Heck said the HECs debt plan would be a big help.
“We don’t want to end up like America, where to get an education you need to be drowning in debt,” she said.
The Greens want to take a big step further and wipe all student debt and make higher education free by increasing taxes on corporations and the ultra-wealthy.
Senate candidate Nick McKim said 60,000 Tasmanians owed $1.bn in HECS debt between them.
“There is a student debt crisis in Tasmania, and the Greens plan would put thousands of dollars back into the pockets of nearly 60,000 Tasmanians who are already struggling with the cost of living,” he said.
“This would be a massive boost for young people trying to get ahead, and for people who are
still carrying student debt decades after they graduated.”
“Labor and the Liberals have cooked up a system where university students are saddled with
massive debts, then punished with inflation-linked interest. It’s unfair, it’s unsustainable, and it’s holding people back.”
the party released figures showing how much Tasmanians owed.
* Clark: 14,000 people owe $346m in student debt
* Franklin 11,800 people owe $271m.
* Bass 10,300 people owe $228m.
* Braddon owe $164m.
* Lyons 8,800 people owe around $186m.
Originally published as Labor and Greens take aim at student debt
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