Latest news with #Hecs
The Guardian
22-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Labor's bill to slash Hecs debt likely to pass with Coalition support despite Greens demand to end indexation
Labor's student debt relief is likely to sail through parliament despite a Greens push Labor to end indexation of Hecs debts and wind up Coalition-era fee hikes for humanities courses. Labor's legislation to lower Hecs debt levels by about 20% for about 3 million graduates will be the first government bill to be introduced to the new parliament on Wednesday. It is expected to deliver savings of about $16bn, and lift the repayment threshold for taxpayer-supported loans from $54,000 to $67,000. The measures are being sold as providing cost-of-living relief for young Australians, who hold the bulk of student debt. Labor says the average student debt would be reduced by about $5,500. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email It's likely the bill will be passed by both houses in coming weeks, a change of pace for the Senate where the crossbenchers held significant power last term. The Greens hold the sole balance of power, but Coalition support means the bill will pass regardless of the minor party's push for amendments. Despite this, the Greens higher education spokesperson, Mehreen Faruqi, said she would move Senate amendments ending indexation rules for higher education loans and winding up the Morrison government's job-ready graduates scheme, introduced in 2021. 'While every bit of student debt relief is good, what the government is doing by wiping some student debt doesn't even touch the sides of the issue,' Faruqi said on Tuesday. 'The core of the problem is indexation. Unless indexation is removed, students will be in this hamster wheel always chasing their debts, which keep getting bigger and bigger.' Job-ready graduates was designed to push more students into disciplines experiencing job shortages, by lowering the cost of degrees in courses such as computer programming and engineering. Costs for courses deemed less worthy, including in the humanities, doubled as part of the changes. But a University of Melbourne study in 2023, found the fee changes affected the enrolment decisions of only 1.5% of students, suggesting the policy had failed to drive behavioural shifts. Faruqi said job-ready graduates had pushed the cost of an undergraduate arts degree to $50,000. 'The Universities Accord process was very clear in their recommendation. They said that there should be something urgent done to look at the unfairness and the fee increases of the job-ready graduates package.' Coalition education spokesman Jonathon Duniam said he expected Liberal and Nationals MPs to support the government's bill. 'It was an issue, one of the centrepieces of the government's agenda at the last election and obviously we had a view that was not supported by Australians, so we'll work with them,' he told Sky. 'We have our concerns, they remain. We'll talk about those, but I expect them to pass Parliament.' Leading economic think tank the e61 Institute this week recommended the government cut student loans by a flat $5,500, saying that would be a fairer and more effective way of providing relief than Labor's promised 20% reduction.
The Guardian
05-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Australia news live: Watt predicts ‘easier' time in Senate; Liberals need ‘timeless values', says NSW leader
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Caitlin Cassidy Labor to deliver more on housing in second term, Murray Watt says Labor will be 'able to deliver' action it has promised on housing in its second term, the minister for employment and workplace relations, Murray Watt, has flagged. The Labor senator told ABC's 7.30 on Monday evening that Labor's agenda in its first term was 'more ambitious' than it is credited for, particularly on housing. I think this term … we'll actually now be able to deliver a lot of the things that we have promised in housing. Pressed on whether Labor would make tax changes in its second term, including to negative gearing, he said the party had been 'very clear' that it wasn't proposing to change its policy and wouldn't 'start scrapping policies' either. We think that we can meet the needs of younger Australians through the policy platform that we took to the election. Of course, the commitment to reduce Hecs debts by 20% was very popular among younger people. The commitments we've made to build more homes for first home-buyers. The 5% deposit scheme backed in by the government was very popular among young voters. Labor MP Murray Watt. Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP Share Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I'm Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories before the main action kicks off. Labor have not been given enough credit for policies to ease the housing crisis, Murray Watt said last night, as the Labor senator promised that the new Albanese government 'will be able' to deliver more to help in its second term, expecting things to be a little easier for Labor's policy agenda in the new Senate. It came as the prime minister warned crossbenchers last night to 'get out of the way' and allow the private sector to get on with building more homes. More coming up. It's an altogether different outlook for the Liberals who are well on their way to a full-blown existential crisis. Gina Rinehart has suggested the party needs to become more Trumpian while others, especially former senior women MPs and senators such as Linda Reynolds say the party has to reform and get more women into parliament. In New South Wales, the Liberal leader says the party needs to revert to 'timeless values' after the drubbing. More on that in a few minutes. Share
The Guardian
05-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘Alban-easy' and ‘red, red, whine': how the papers saw Labor's ‘thumping' win in Australia's election
The federal election outcome was always going to dominate newspaper headlines, but the coverage made it clear that Anthony Albanese's landslide victory was anything but expected – both for the winner and the loser. Here is how Australian and international news captured Labor's win: The Sunday Telegraph's election special edition was headlined: 'It's so Alban-easy' – while his opponent was 'Duttonated'. The historic win was branded a 'mega victory', while Andrew Bolt wrote the 'gutless and incoherent Coalition should be ashamed'. On Monday, the Daily Telegraph turned its attention to how Dutton's Liberal party fared in Sydney, with its 'attacks on migration and policy of cutting international students to lower house prices' reported to have cost the party the ethnic vote across the city and New South Wales. 'Albanese supremacy' stated the Australian as it described Labor's 'thumping election victory'. The prime minister's 'powerful authority' inside a second-term Labor government 'decimated' Peter Dutton's Liberal party, it reported. While Albanese was given the Mr Whippy treatment by the Adelaide Advertiser, the Liberals were reported to be turning on each other in what the paper headlined 'Red, red whine'. The swing to Labor was larger in South Australia than in any other state. Tasmania's historic quad of Labor MPs led the Mercury's coverage on Monday, with Jess Teesdale, Rebecca White, Julia Collins and Anne Urquhart 'ready to take on Canberra', the paper said. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Over at the West Australian, 'Albo country' has been declared. Like many outlets, the paper's coverage on Monday was led by the PM's 'sweet and Albanese' moment serving ice-creams at a cafe in his Sydney electorate on Sunday. The Sydney Morning Herald on Monday turned its focus to how Albanese's new ministry might look, with more than a dozen new MPs expected to change its factional structure. In Queensland, Albanese's 'Hecs appeal' – referring to the government's promise to slash student loan debts – fuelled Labor's 'demolition of the Greens and Liberals', while Dutton was kept in the dark about poor polling in Dickson, the Courier-Mail reported on Monday. Over at the Financial Review on Monday, the 'rout' put the economy into focus. The BBC called Albanese's win a 'stunning comeback', describing how he 'defied the so-called 'incumbency curse'' that has shaped global elections in recent months. Meanwhile, the New York Times reported the 'resounding defeat' completed 'a stunning turnaround' for the PM. Dutton's loss, the Times said, 'echoed the ouster of Canada's conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, whose defeat was seen as a rejection of his embrace of [Donald] Trump.'
The Guardian
15-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
The Sydney student: ‘My trust in government has diminished'
Federico Canas Velasco catches a bus to the University of Sydney campus in the hour before his lectures begin for the day. First is French, then global studies. The 22-year-old is in his fourth year of uni, and his weeks are busy. Half his days are spent working a bar job, and the others between classes. He is an outgoing, positive guy – friends, and sports such swimming and football, occupy any spare time. He hopes to graduate and find work related to his degree in international studies in the next year or so. He lives in Anthony Albanese's inner west seat of Grayndler – a very safe Labor electorate. I lived half time between my mum and dad, both of them were renting. My mum just recently bought a property, because it ended up being that renting would cost the same as buying a small apartment, so I'm living with her. I would like to move out of home eventually, but realistically I cannot right now. I'm lucky enough to have parents I can live with, because everything is so expensive. I would not be able to move out here in Sydney. Definitely the cost of living. I am paying towards things at home. Things like groceries are absolutely ridiculous. The price of eggs! Medicare, too. I recently just hurt my finger and it was so hard to find any GPs that were bulk-billing in my area. These domestic things affect me. To go out now, to have a pub meal for two, is at least $100. I think that's absolutely ridiculous, especially when you compare it to other countries where it is so much more affordable. And public transport, why does it cost so much? It costs my dad, who recently just moved to the Shire, $10 each way to get to Central and back. That is ridiculous. Let's say you are catching it to the office every day, five days a week. Dude, that's $100 a week. There are certain things that were better off three years ago. We were just coming out of Covid [restrictions], and I was better financially simply because I wasn't able to do anything but work. I was at a pharmacy, which was lucky because it was one of the few things that remained open. Coming back to the real world now, you want to go out, you want to travel, you want to do normal things a young person does, and it is just too expensive. This year, I really have to watch what I do. I have to work more, minimise my expenses. I really like the Hecs change – that was a good thing for most students. I think we get a 20% decrease now. Much more pessimistic. We have lots of issues. A big one is climate change. That is going to drastically affect things – our way of life, economically it will have a massive backlash. Also, with housing, it does not seem like it is going to get any better at all. Especially in Sydney. I can't see that in maybe 15 years, when I have children, that things will be any better. I don't think I will be able to own a house. I think financially it is going to be very difficult. And we are living so much longer, but growing up hasn't changed. It is still that same cycle of finishing high school, either working or studying, by the time you hit your mid 20s you are expected to find some sort of job, and then you retire by the time you are like 65. That is still the expectation now. But I think that's a problem for my generation, future generations, that will exacerbate when we are older. The world seemed more suited for my parents' generation to get a job out of uni, buy a house – it worked. I feel like it's not really reflected with us. A lot of it comes from social media, whether it is an article from a newspaper shared on socials, or an Instagram account that puts out news. It is the way we get the majority of information, whether it is true or not. There are a lot of false things – conspiracy theories, racism – on social media too. It is like everything amplified. I also try to avoid the Murdoch press. I am glad that I'm aware of bias. I like the Guardian! I can say I'm definitely not voting for the Liberals. I don't think they represent young people, or the majority of Australians. I will probably end up voting Labor because they seem like the viable alternative. I know the Greens put pressure on things, and the new Medicare deal they negotiated with Labor I think was a great thing. I used to be a lot more pro-Labor. I still lean more favourably towards Labor, but I think my perception of, or trust in, government has diminished. I feel like, what power do you truly have? Particularly seeing all the challenges we are facing now. They say they are doing things, but I don't really see it with my own eyes. I still go to the grocery shop and eggs are up by $2.50. The price of a kilo of tomatoes has gone up from $2.99 to $3.99 to $4.99. Even on the international stage, Australia should stand up against the bullies like China, like the US. But it just seems they are less and less powerful. It is just a decrease in faith in government, in their ability to do things.
The Guardian
18-02-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
As an election looms, will Australians remember Labor for one rate cut or the 12 hikes before that?
Jim Chalmers tried to say he wasn't taking credit for the big banks dropping their interest rates, but the sense of satisfaction – or perhaps relief – among other Labor MPs was palpable in the moments after the Reserve Bank of Australia announced its cut of 25 basis points. Labor MPs Justine Elliot and Kristy McBain, both under pressure in tough races, tweeted 'breaking' updates within two minutes of the announcement. Within a few more minutes, the likes of Jerome Laxale, Josh Wilson, Pat Conroy, Shayne Neumann, Mark Butler, Helen Polley, Tony Sheldon and the retiring Graham Perrett had also taken to their social media accounts to broadcast the news. It was the news Labor wanted. Chalmers claimed it as an endorsement of the government's work in battling inflation – but even as he noted there was more work to do, and that families were still hurting, other Labor figures were happy to offer more effusive analysis of the RBA's 0.25% cut. 'Our economic plan is working,' Polley tweeted. Chalmers' response to the long-awaited rate cut dropped into our inboxes barely five minutes after the decision. The government had been sweating on an interest rate cut to boost its election chances, with the way now clearer for an announcement of a poll date potentially as soon as early April. Among the prevailing logic was that if Tuesday brought a rate cut, the election trigger would be pulled for April – but if rates stayed on hold, we'd hit the polls in May. 'This will have no impact on the timing of the election,' Anthony Albanese said on ABC Radio in Brisbane on Tuesday afternoon, suggesting more strongly than before that the government would indeed hold its scheduled budget on 25 March. The Guardian Essential poll on Tuesday found less than half of Australians could remember the government's most proudly touted economic achievement, back-to-back budget surpluses. But a long-awaited rates cut on the eve of an election announcement may be a different story. There is also the potential of another rate cut at the RBA's next board meeting on 1 April, which would be either just before an early April poll date or in the thick of one held in May – although the governor, Michele Bullock, cautioned Tuesday's decision 'does not imply' further rate cuts coming. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The truth is, Peter Dutton and the Coalition still have no substantial cost-of-living policy or plans to speak of (beyond the vague-to-the-point-of-meaninglessness pledge of a 'back to basics' approach, which apparently means shaving off a handful of DEI staff in the public service and saving a pittance on welcome to country ceremonies). Conversely, the government can tout its $300 rebates on power bills, its rejigging of the stage-three tax cuts to give relief to millions more middle-income earners, extension of free childcare, slashing of Hecs and Tafe bills, and now the proof in the RBA pudding, that its moves on inflation are bringing down price pressures. Indeed, Albanese pointed to several of these measures in an afternoon radio blitz across the country – Brisbane, Perth and Sydney – painting his decision to remix the tax cuts as 'courageous'. We still await more details of Albanese's much-discussed 'forward offer' of Labor's plan for its next three years if re-elected; just as we live in anticipation as to whether Dutton will unveil his own or simply seek to coast into The Lodge on vibe alone. But at this stage, the government does have a more compelling story about its economic plan. The opposition's response to the RBA decision took a bit longer than Labor's instant excitement (threading the needle of backing a rate cut for homeowners and families while still criticising the government under whose watch the cut came takes some time) – but it was not glowing. 'Too little, too late,' tut-tutted the shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor. 'Australians have had to squeeze their budgets, because Labor can't control its budget.' The Coalition's position, of course, was that while Labor oversaw one rate cut, it had followed 12 rate hikes in a row under Albanese; that while inflation may be coming under control, long periods of rising prices were now baked in; and that a slight rate cut today does not make up for how far backwards people have gone. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion It's a fair point in a cost-of-living crisis, and one the government still does not have a decent answer for. While it's unclear if it'll be this weekend or next that Albanese gets into what he calls 'the white car with the little flags on the bonnet' for the ride to Government House, the broad contours of a Labor plan urging voters to 'stay the course' were evident in Chalmers' press conference. 'When we came to office, inflation and interest rates were rising, now both are falling. Other countries have had to pay for that kind of progress on inflation with much higher unemployment, negative quarters of growth or even recessions,' the treasurer said. Translated: look what we've done for you. It could have been much worse, if not for Labor. 'We can't be complacent about the months and years ahead. We know that there is more work to do,' Chalmers continued. Translated: don't risk switching horses mid-race. Don't risk Dutton. 'I spoke to the CEOs of all four major banks. Each of them has made an announcement that each of the major banks will be passing on, in full, the benefits of the decision taken by the independent Reserve Bank today. I don't take credit for those decisions that they have made and announced already,' Chalmers went on. Translated: don't forget, it was under Labor that your rates started going down. As we reach election fever pitch, the key question will be whether Australians remember Labor for delivering one rate cut on the threshold of the poll, or overseeing the 12 rate hikes before that. Josh Butler is a political reporter based in Canberra
