Lee Rhiannon (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I do acknowledge the interjection just made. It is interesting that it was from a member of the Nationals, who so often go around saying how they are the friends and supporters of regional universities. But the Nationals senator who just interjected and his colleagues are solidly there with the government at every turn, working—

Senator Siewert interjecting—

I acknowledge the interjection from my colleague as well, that this is very dishonest territory that the Nationals are entering into. They are out there trying to make out that they stand up for regional universities and students from country areas, but they are about to vote for legislation that will change benefits for regional students to a degree that will bring them further hardship, hardship that will multiply as the years roll by. My guess is that they have probably convinced themselves, 'Well, it's not much'—not at the moment, but in time it will be.

These relocation payments are something that I have found, from my own experience of meetings at universities, a number of students raise with me in terms of what a difference they have made. For instance, I met some students from the Blue Mountains and from the suburbs of Western Sydney who were able to get relocation payments to move closer in to the city to be able to take the courses that they wanted to do at Sydney university. In one case, it was vet science; in another case, it was an economics degree. That would not be possible now because of the way eligibility for relocation payments is going to be judged. If your parents live in a major city—major cities being defined as capital cities, including Newcastle, Wollongong and even the Central Coast and the Gold Coast—you will no longer qualify for this assistance. That will make it particularly hard for disadvantaged students and students from working-class backgrounds, whose families cannot afford to help them to move to another capital city, another centre, another university so they can continue the studies that they have their hearts set on.

It is another insidious aspect of this government's policy that they are incrementally looking to change higher education in ways that will return our university system to being the domain of wealthy, white, often men, if the changes in the higher education bill that Minister Pyne is bringing forward go through. But right now the changes to relocation payments will really make it harder for young students, young men and women, who come from families that cannot support them. A lot of families would obviously try to assist their children so they can go ahead and study. But you should not have to rely on your family for that assistance. You should be able to access this relocation payment which Labor is about to help the government ditch.

As I mentioned, these cuts adds up to $400 million, and the largest component of these cuts will remove access to relocation scholarships for students whose parents live in a major city—and I will say them again because the Nationals senators in this chamber need to hear it, because they are always telling us how they are the only voice for regional areas—such as Wollongong, Newcastle or on the Central Coast. They are areas where at times the Nationals have even had MPs, and surely they should be representing their interests, as they should be across the board.

For many students, this relocation scholarship payment has made a difference in terms of their ability to move to university and get established. If you talk to students, particularly undergraduates but also a lot of postgraduates these days, the cost of living is really hard for them. Relocation costs for an individual student add up to about $7,000 over the years that they study. This is money they could use to assist them with their rent, transport, food and other daily living costs. That money can make a real difference when you are really counting your pennies, working out how you are going to get through the week and whether you can pay the rent that week, buy a present for your mum—all those things that make up one's life.

Let's just remember that we have heard time and time again from Labor MPs about how bad this budget is, about how they are standing up for students and for universities and about how they are the voice for public education. They have spoken at rallies, meetings and universities. We have heard from the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Shorten. He, along with other Labor MPs, have signed this pledge. It is very specific in terms of their commitment to block—that is the word from their pledge—proposed changes to higher education in the Senate. That is what we are talking about today.

He cannot just try and quarantine that to Mr Pyne's bill. It is not that simple. Life is not linear in little boxes. We are dealing with legislation now that, if it were to pass, would add to the challenges, the hardships and the difficulties so many students face, particularly students from families where nobody has ever gone to university before. They are very proud of their son or their daughter who has gone to university. It is often very hard for them because they have not grown up in a family where people have had that opportunity. They are giving it everything they have got. But money comes into it, and that needs to be considered.

The other aspect we have here in the deal that Labor has done with the coalition in regard to higher education is overseas portability. This was just a very basic bit of humanity, in that your Centrelink payments were not cut off if you went overseas for less than six weeks. In a country like Australia, with so many people in our society with relatives, families and loved ones overseas, to visit them for an emergency, periodically they will need to go over—