Billions slashed from student debt, HECS as Labor election promise passes parliament
More than 3 million Australians are set to see their debt reduced, with the average debt of about $27,600 receiving about $5520 in relief.
The debts will be reduced automatically by the Australian Taxation Office over the coming months, with calculations backdated to the amount owed on June 1, 2025.
The Opposition benches were notably empty as the Bill passed parliament on Thursday morning, with Labor, Greens and crossbench senators, David Pocock, Tammy Tyrell, and Fatima Payman supporting the motion.
Education Minister Jason Clare said the promise was important to 'young Australians' who 'don't always see something for them on the ballot paper'.
However he urged patience with the ATO now required to 'write about 50,000 lines of code to implement' the policy and 'make sure that they get it right'.
'But this is now going to happen. It's guaranteed and it will be backdated to 1 June this year, before indexation happened,' he told reporters.
'We're doing that for a reason – to make sure that we honour the promise we made to the Australian people in full, that we would cut their student debt by 20 per cent and today the parliament has acted and I'm glad to see that they have.'
Labor's promise to slash thousands from students debts has passed parliament. Picture: NewsWire / Nicholas Eagar
One Nation senators Malcolm Roberts, Warwick Stacey and Tyron Whitten opposed the Bill.
Standing up to speak after the Bill passed, Greens senator Sarah Hanson lashed the lack of Coalition presence in the Chamber, however was admonished by Senate president Sue Lines.
'I'd just like to draw attention to the state of the Opposition benches in the last 15 minutes. They seem to be invisible, missing,' said Senator Hanson-Young before she was cut off by Senator Lines.
In response, the President said: 'This is not a time for a statement. It's not appropriate for a quorum because there are senators in here and the practice in this place is that we don't comment on whether senators are in the chamber or not'.
Speaking broadly about Coalition co-operation, Mr Clare thanked Sussan Ley, and said 'this is a different Parliament and a different Opposition Leader'.
While the Coalition didn't directly support the legislation passing, they also didn't vote to overturn it, like it did on Labor's $5-a-week tax cut legislation, which passed just before Anthony Albanese called the May election.
'Australians, I think, want us to work together on the big things that matter to help Australians, and particularly on the childcare matter where it could have been very different,' he said.
'The decision of Susan and Jonno (Duniam), the Shadow Minister, to work constructively with us, I take my hat off to them. This is what Australians want of us.'
The Bill also contained measures which will increase the minimum income repayment threshold before Australians begin to pay back their student loans from $54,000 to $67,000.
Rates of repayments will also be lowered.
Jessica Wang
NewsWire Federal Politics Reporter
Jessica Wang is a federal politics reporter for NewsWire based in the Canberra Press Gallery. She previously covered NSW state politics for the Wire and has also worked at news.com.au, and Mamamia covering breaking news, entertainment, and lifestyle.
@imjesswang_
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Organisers expect tens of thousands of people to march from the Sydney CBD across the bridge to North Sydney despite rainy conditions. Police sought an order to prohibit the protest but Supreme Court Justice Belinda Rigg rejected the application on Saturday. The bridge will be closed to motorists for most of Sunday and the metro is out of commission with scheduled repairs. The original starting point of Lang Park in the city's CBD has been moved slightly north in negotiation with organisers to accommodate swelling numbers, and the march will end in Bradfield Park. "I'm not sure the amount of numbers that are coming ... we couldn't really gauge the support (for the rally) so we have to deal with that as it progresses today," Acting Police Assistant Commissioner Adam Johnson told reporters hours before the march. He warned police would take swift action against anyone who seeks to hijack the peaceful protest. "That's our message all the time, whether it's a public assembly or not. 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Formerly a pro-Palestinian MP in parliament before shifting her position, Ms Ley took aim at the protest organisers and suggested the rally be moved to another location. "The language of the people running this protest doesn't sound peaceful to me," she told Sky News on Sunday. "I respect the right of free speech and protest, but this is taking it to another level ... the protest could happen elsewhere." Labor backbencher Ed Husic, who has been more outspoken on ending the war on Gaza, emphasised unity. "What we are seeing is that Australians are deeply affected by the images they are seeing out of Gaza," he told ABC TV. "They want to send a strong message through peaceful protests to governments, both here and abroad, that the killing has got to stop, the starvation has got to end." Similar demonstrations are planned on Sunday in Melbourne and Adelaide. More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war in Gaza, according to local health authorities, while the United Nations says dozens of people have died in recent weeks due to starvation. Israel's military campaign began after militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people and taking more than 251 hostages. The iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge is expected to turn into a teeming mass of people spotlighting the suffering in Gaza with thousands expected to join the protest, as police flag concerns of crowd crush. Rally organiser Palestine Action Group intends to draw attention to what the United Nations has described as worsening famine conditions in Gaza. Organisers expect tens of thousands of people to march from the Sydney CBD across the bridge to North Sydney despite rainy conditions. Police sought an order to prohibit the protest but Supreme Court Justice Belinda Rigg rejected the application on Saturday. The bridge will be closed to motorists for most of Sunday and the metro is out of commission with scheduled repairs. The original starting point of Lang Park in the city's CBD has been moved slightly north in negotiation with organisers to accommodate swelling numbers, and the march will end in Bradfield Park. "I'm not sure the amount of numbers that are coming ... we couldn't really gauge the support (for the rally) so we have to deal with that as it progresses today," Acting Police Assistant Commissioner Adam Johnson told reporters hours before the march. He warned police would take swift action against anyone who seeks to hijack the peaceful protest. "That's our message all the time, whether it's a public assembly or not. "I'm talking about anyone, I'm not talking about the actual protesters specifically, but anyone, that people are expected to obey the law." Mr Johnson also raised safety concerns, citing the rainy conditions and the number of demonstrators. 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"I respect the right of free speech and protest, but this is taking it to another level ... the protest could happen elsewhere." Labor backbencher Ed Husic, who has been more outspoken on ending the war on Gaza, emphasised unity. "What we are seeing is that Australians are deeply affected by the images they are seeing out of Gaza," he told ABC TV. "They want to send a strong message through peaceful protests to governments, both here and abroad, that the killing has got to stop, the starvation has got to end." Similar demonstrations are planned on Sunday in Melbourne and Adelaide. More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war in Gaza, according to local health authorities, while the United Nations says dozens of people have died in recent weeks due to starvation. Israel's military campaign began after militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people and taking more than 251 hostages. The iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge is expected to turn into a teeming mass of people spotlighting the suffering in Gaza with thousands expected to join the protest, as police flag concerns of crowd crush. Rally organiser Palestine Action Group intends to draw attention to what the United Nations has described as worsening famine conditions in Gaza. Organisers expect tens of thousands of people to march from the Sydney CBD across the bridge to North Sydney despite rainy conditions. Police sought an order to prohibit the protest but Supreme Court Justice Belinda Rigg rejected the application on Saturday. The bridge will be closed to motorists for most of Sunday and the metro is out of commission with scheduled repairs. The original starting point of Lang Park in the city's CBD has been moved slightly north in negotiation with organisers to accommodate swelling numbers, and the march will end in Bradfield Park. "I'm not sure the amount of numbers that are coming ... we couldn't really gauge the support (for the rally) so we have to deal with that as it progresses today," Acting Police Assistant Commissioner Adam Johnson told reporters hours before the march. He warned police would take swift action against anyone who seeks to hijack the peaceful protest. "That's our message all the time, whether it's a public assembly or not. "I'm talking about anyone, I'm not talking about the actual protesters specifically, but anyone, that people are expected to obey the law." Mr Johnson also raised safety concerns, citing the rainy conditions and the number of demonstrators. "Crowd crush is a real thing ... but in this case, the risk is the numbers are unknown," he said. "I've asked the police to be reasonable and tempered and measured as we always are but please listen to their instructions, and we will assist in a safe assembly." Several Labor MPs will defy Premier Chris Minns and join the march alongside multiple Greens and independent colleagues. The premier previously warned the city would "descend into chaos" if the protest went ahead. Federal Opposition leader Sussan Ley questioned the shutting down of a "critical piece of infrastructure" in Sydney. Formerly a pro-Palestinian MP in parliament before shifting her position, Ms Ley took aim at the protest organisers and suggested the rally be moved to another location. "The language of the people running this protest doesn't sound peaceful to me," she told Sky News on Sunday. "I respect the right of free speech and protest, but this is taking it to another level ... the protest could happen elsewhere." Labor backbencher Ed Husic, who has been more outspoken on ending the war on Gaza, emphasised unity. "What we are seeing is that Australians are deeply affected by the images they are seeing out of Gaza," he told ABC TV. "They want to send a strong message through peaceful protests to governments, both here and abroad, that the killing has got to stop, the starvation has got to end." Similar demonstrations are planned on Sunday in Melbourne and Adelaide. More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war in Gaza, according to local health authorities, while the United Nations says dozens of people have died in recent weeks due to starvation. Israel's military campaign began after militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people and taking more than 251 hostages.
