Mr TEHAN (5:34 PM) —I rise on behalf of equality and fairness this afternoon and supporting the second reading amendment that should be made to the Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Election Commitments and Other Measures) Bill 2011. The amendment reads:

It is an absolute disgrace, what the Gillard government have done—with the changes they have made to the independent youth allowance—to regional and rural students. They say they are a government of fairness. Well what they have done to regional and rural students is not fair. I have received numerous letters that highlight this fact.

I received a letter from Rosanne Baird, which states:

A second letter that I received is from Anna Zebra. It reads:

And who changed them? We know—the Gillard government, in spite of their so-called fairness.

This poor boy—his older sister is getting independent youth allowance and going to university, he has met exactly the same requirements as she has and he cannot. Fellow students who live five to 10 minutes down the road are also eligible to get independent youth allowance, but he is not. This policy is an absolute disgrace. It is unequal, it is unfair and Prime Minister Gillard, whose policy this is, should act to change it immediately, because if she does not then she is disadvantaging regional and rural students.

I want to touch on a few points that are relevant here and go to the heart of the two amendments. I would especially hope that all rural and regional members of the ALP—and I know there are not a lot of them—would support us in making sure that these amendments are supported. Here are some facts about what we are dealing with. Finding full-time employment in regional areas and small communities is often very difficult for these students, so they have a hard time trying to just get the employment. When they do and they qualify we should enable them to get independent youth allowance so they can go and get a tertiary education. The legislation does not take into account seasonal employment sectors such as tourism and agriculture in regional areas, creating further barriers for regional students. So it is hardship upon hardship that the government is putting on these rural and regional students.

Rural and regional students face significantly increased costs associated with relocating for study; this is proven and factual, with no debate. Everyone knows that this is true, yet what we are seeing is a government that will not stand up and do the right thing by these students. Many regional students have no choice but to relocate to study. The major universities are in our capital cities. We have some, fortunately, in regional areas. We have a very good university, Deakin, in Warrnambool in my electorate, and RMIT in Hamilton, but unfortunately they do not yet offer the variety of subjects that all students need, so students are forced to go to the capital cities—and that costs them a serious amount of money. Evidence has shown that it is a financial barrier of between $15,000 and $20,000. These students are prepared to do the work so that they have some money to go to university, but what is the Gillard government doing? It is taking away from them the opportunity to get some assistance for these costs.

Mr Craig Kelly —The education revolution!

Mr TEHAN —Yes, the education revolution! It is all about education, all about fairness and all about equality—the so-called education revolution. All it has done is revolutionise the difficulty for these regional and rural students to access tertiary education, and there is not an issue that young people raise with me more than independent youth allowance and what this government has done to make it harder for them to go and get a tertiary education. We have had petitions. We have never seen such support for petitions that have been put in the offices of people right across the country, and I am sure that in Townsville the response has been equally strong as in Warrnambool, Hamilton and other areas where regional and rural students have been disadvantaged.

Another fact that we need to take into consideration is that students who defer tertiary studies for longer than 12 months are less likely to attend university. So it is not even a great policy to ask students to defer so that they can earn the income to qualify for independent youth allowance. Very few universities accept deferments longer than 12 months, meaning that those who have to work a 30-hour week for 18 months over a two-year period will have to give up their spot and reapply later. The university enrolment system that is in place also makes it harder for regional and rural students. Yet we have a government which continues to defend this shameful policy—which was introduced under the concept of fairness. There is nothing fair about it. In fact, a Senate inquiry found that 55 per cent of metropolitan students go on to tertiary education compared with only 33 per cent of students from regional areas.

Given that fact, you would think that the government would be working towards assisting regional and rural students to go and get a tertiary education. You would think that they would like to close that gap. If your core belief is education, if that is at the heart of what brought you to this place, you would think that you would try to close that gap. Yet what we are seeing is a policy which is going to make that gap widen.

We are proposing a couple of amendments. I say to those opposite: if you want to do the right thing, if you want to get on the side of fairness, if you want to get on the side of equality, you will support our amendments. The figures and the facts are there for all to see. I could read into Hansard a lot more letters and a lot more cases than what I have outlined today. This policy is a disgrace. It is hurting and harming regional and rural students who want to get a tertiary education. We have two simple amendments to this bill. They are not complex. All you need to do is come across to this side and you will do something which will help to bridge the gap between regional and rural students and their city cousins.

We have no issue with 55 per cent of metropolitan students going on to tertiary education. That is a good statistic, and hopefully we can see that rise. But we need to also see an increase in the number of students from regional areas going on to get a tertiary education. Thirty-three per cent is not good enough. We need to get that figure up above 50 per cent. These two amendments will do it. I call on the two country Independents in particular to get behind these amendments, because their electorates are hurt by Prime Minister Gillard’s policy which has done more than anything to damage the attempt to bridge that gap. I call on the two rural Independents to get on the side of right, get on the side of fairness, and support the coalition on these two amendments. This is their chance to stand up for their electorates. It is their chance to get on the side of the coalition, which cares about regional and rural areas and which goes in to bat for regional and rural areas continually. This is their opportunity. Stop the game playing; these two amendments will do more than anything else to help these regional and rural students. I call on them to vote with us and to make sure that these two amendments get up.