Trade Support Loans Amendment Bill 2023 and Student Loans (Overseas Debtors Repayment Levy) Amendment Bill 2023

The majority voted against two amendments introduced by NSW Senator Mehreen Faruqi (Greens), which means they failed.

What did the amendments do?

Senator Faruqi explained that:

These amendments do two things. Firstly, they abolish indexation on trade support loans to prevent these loans becoming a debt trap. With student and training debts expected to rise by 15 per cent in just two years of the Labor government, this amendment is necessary to prevent the debt crisis from becoming even worse. I have to say, my heart really breaks for the many who will suffer the long-term effects of soaring student debt. People are already being locked out of the housing market, denied personal loans and are rethinking dreams of further study because they are being crushed by student debt, and things will only get worse because Labor is not acting on this.

The second amendment raises the minimum repayment income for those loans to the median wage, which is currently $65,000 annually so that people only have to start repaying their loans once they are earning a decent income. This is an important measure to ensure that people on those lower incomes are not spending money on student debt, money that they so desperately need for bills, for rent, for food, for medicine. It is a cost-of-living relief measure.