Ms PLIBERSEK (9:46 AM) —I am disappointed that the Howard government has claimed that the GST will not affect education. It is obvious from the discussions that we have had during the week on HECS debt and the GST that education will be affected by the GST. Indeed, it seems that individual students' HECS debts will increase by up to $700 next year because HECS debts are linked to the consumer price index, and we know that the consumer price index will increase by over five per cent next year. Not only will new graduates see their debt increase but existing graduates who have had a debt for some time will also see that debt affected by the consumer price index.

Unfortunately, the repayment threshold—the point at which students need to start to repay their debt—will not be similarly indexed because the repayment threshold is linked to average weekly earnings, which, of course, will not increase by anywhere near five per cent. In fact, the Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs confirmed that:

It is disappointing that almost a million people will be affected by this GST slug on HECS debts—and the government stands to make a windfall of over $180 million in additional student debt next year. It is very sad, indeed, that this government is about making profit from debts that people have been incurring for many years and indeed will be repaying for many years to come.

The many thousands of students who live in my electorate and who attend the University of Technology Sydney and Sydney University certainly will remember, when election time comes, who has imposed this extra $700 debt on students. They will also remember who took $800 million out of university operating grants, who cut $1 billion from student assistance, who doubled the rate of HECS and introduced much higher rates for some degrees, who reduced the repayment threshold so that students have to start repaying debt much sooner when they start working at below average weekly earnings, and, of course, who is imposing all the extra costs associated with education and living away from home—paying the gas and electricity bills, buying the clothes for the job interview that is so important, getting transport to and from university and paying software bills. We all know how important computer equipment and software is, and that will be affected by the GST. It is amazing that this government is able to spend $431 million on advertising a GST which it claims does not affect education yet it is obvious that there is an $180 million affect on HECS debts alone.