Independent Member for Clark, Andrew Wilkie, moved a motion in the Federal Parliament criticising the Federal Government for failing to unwind the Morrison-era uni fee increases.
“The Government has made welcome steps in reducing student debts which have been ballooning rapidly. But what they seem to not understand is that you wouldn’t need to forgive student debts if you hadn’t loaded them up with mountains of it in the first place. And if the Government doesn’t act to address the fee structure, the problem will only re-emerge again for students in a few years’ time. In other words, the one-off cut to student debt is really just a Band-Aid on a bullet wound.
“All of this is to say, it’s beyond time that the Government acted on the principles they claimed to have just three and a bit years ago and finally addressed access and affordability in the higher education system. And a great place to start would be scrapping the Morrison-era Jobs Ready Graduates Scheme, and returning to the Whitlam-era fee-free first degrees.
“There is an inherent value to the community of a broad education and the fact is that a smarter, better and more diversely educated community is not only more employable, it’s also healthier, happier and more adaptable.”