NSW Master Plumber's Association condemns Labor's $16 billion student debt cut for elite uni students

Sky News AU

23-07-2025

Tradies have hit out at the government's plan to spend $16 billion on cutting student debt, accusing Labor of forcing working-class voters to subsidise high-income graduates.
The legislation was introduced by Education Minister Jason Clare and will cut existing HELP and TAFE loan balances by 20 per cent.
Mr Clare defended the measure as targeted relief for young people experiencing cost-of-living pressures.
'These are the Australians who will build Australia's future, who are already building it, and this will take a weight off their back,' Mr Clare said.
However, the tradespeople—who are literally building the nation's future—will receive little to no benefit from the policy.
In an angry response following the introduction of the bill to Parliament, the NSW Master Plumbers Association labelled the package as 'deeply unfair'.
'This is not economic reform. It's Afterpay politics at its worst,' Master Plumbers NSW CEO Nathaniel Smith told SkyNews.com.au.
'The Albanese government's $16 billion student loan handout was nothing more than a vote-buying exercise—an irresponsible bribe paid for with borrowed money on the national credit card.'
Mr Smith said the policy ignores the country's growing skills shortage in construction and trades, where apprenticeships remain underfunded, and the workforce is ageing.
'The government is busy handing out taxpayer-funded subsidies to people with degrees in law and medicine—many of whom will go on to earn six-figure salaries,' he said.
'How is that fair to the thousands of tradespeople who chose a vocational path, earned their qualifications without racking up university debt, and got to work building this country?'
Economist have similarly warned the policy was poorly designed, unfairly favouring university graduates and delivering limited economic benefit.
New analysis from the non-partisan e61 Institute found more than half of the benefits will flow to the wealthiest 30 per cent of income earners within a decade.
'Over half the benefits of the student debt cut go to individuals who ended up in the top third of all income earners 10 years later,' Senior Research Economist Matthew Maltman said.
'In this sense, the policy is a large regressive wealth transfer.'
Mr Maltman noted that the cost of the policy will be borne by taxpayers who never went to university, have already paid off their debts, or are yet to study.
'These groups will effectively be partially bearing the fiscal cost for the policy for no benefit,' he said.
'Despite the large fiscal cost of the policy, our research suggests it is unlikely to deliver much of an economic benefit.'
Mr Smith said it was 'absolutely unjust' that tradespeople—many of whom never attended university—were now being asked to pay down the debts of degree-holders.
'If this government were serious about long-term economic growth, they'd be investing in our skilled trades workforce, not rewarding the university sector yet again,' he said.
'They'd be rolling out meaningful incentives for small and medium-sized businesses to take on more apprentices and trainees.
'They'd be injecting real funding into not just TAFE, but also not-for-profit, industry-led RTOs that are on the frontline of skills training.'
The Coalition has indicated it will support the bill despite previously criticising the policy as 'populist' and 'economically irresponsible'.
'We have our concerns, they remain. We'll talk about those, but I expect them to pass Parliament,' Shadow Education Minister Jonno Duniam told Sky News.