Independent MP Dai Le asks Anthony Albanese:

Last time I introduced my fair study and opportunity bill to reverse the Morrison governments punitive fee highs and art students with salt cost double. Hitting students invalid the hardest. The 1-off reduction does not fix this. We support my bill when I reintroduce it or allow this 80% increase to unfairly burden many students.

Albanese:

Of course, she was not here when the Morrison government made those changes. That is what she’s talking about. She has been here in the chamber and I know supported the reduction in student debt that past this parliament today, it will pass the Senate as well if it has not already.

That will benefit 23,000 people in the electorate of Fowler 23,000 people will benefit by an average of 5.5 thousand dollars each.

Students who studied to get a better start in life at university, people training or retraining through TAFE making an enormous difference across the board. What is more is that people will benefit from the changes in the threshold that we have made.

The changes to indexation that we have made. The students who will benefit as well in her electorate and others from fee free TAFE, that we are making permanent. That has already benefited over half a million Australians and many of them would have been in the members electorate.

We will support good government legislation, we have come into this place in the first fortnight and have concentrated with the first introduction being things that make that practical difference to people’s lives that we were elected on or re-elected on.

Whether it be the changes to student debt and then reduction, the changes in the threshold, the changes to how much people have to pay back and when, which will put more dollars in people’s pockets. Or whether it be the support for cheaper medicines that we have also done in this parliament that will benefit 70 people in the elector of Fowler what we are determined to do it each and every day is to focus on the issues that people in her electorate and electorates like hers are most concerned about.

That is how do we make their lives better and increase opportunity, how do we support aspiration and how do we make sure that no-one gets left behind and no-one gets held back?