Street Maryan: Student Loan Scheme (Exemptions and Miscellaneous Provisions) Amendment Bill — Second Reading In Committee 
Street Maryan: Student Loan Scheme (Exemptions and Miscellaneous Provisions) Amendment Bill — Second Reading In Committee 
[Volume:660;Page:9391] 
Hon MARYAN STREET (Labour) 
: 
 Part 2 of the Student Loan Scheme (Exemptions and Miscellaneous Provisions) Amendment Bill is technical in nature. The bill itself is technical in nature but Part 2 simply draws other legislation into alignment through a series of consequential amendments. The consequential amendments or the revocation of certain parts of legislation are now referred to in Part 2 in order to make the whole set internally consistent. There are amendments to the Tax Administration Act there are consequential revocations of enactments such as the Student Loan Scheme (Income Amount for Full Interest Write-off) Regulations 2005 and parts also from 2006 and 2009 are being revoked. 
The need to keep the legislation consistent is important. It is imperative but it also raises for me the same question that I have referred to previously and that is the extent to which the consistency reflected in Part 2 is the consistency reflected in the Government’s approach to tertiary education. Previously when I spoke about this it was clear from some of the interjections opposite that Government members thought that this was simply Labour saying again: “Spend spend spend and don’t make any cuts anywhere.” 
Government appropriations have always and ever been about the ordering of priorities. This party is saying that in order to be not only consistent but also progressive about tertiary education opportunities and the benefits that accrue to the country from giving more people access to tertiary education those opportunities should not be lost sight of and should be made consistent across Government policy. 
The consistencies that are reflected by Part 2 come into question when the whole approach to tertiary education policy is looked at. We are not any longer in the days that we were in when I first went to Victoria University some considerable time ago. I remember queuing to pay 10 percent of the course fees in the student union building at Victoria University. We have long since moved on from those days. I wish that our newest member of this House still had such a regime available to him but that is no longer the case. Now it takes active investment on the part of the Government to ensure that tertiary education is available to all. My father gave me $100 and my mother bought me a coat to cope with the Wellington winter and on the strength of those gifts and a bursary from high school I went to Victoria University. I was able on the strength of the facilities available at that time to give my father back the $100 at the end of my first year with some careful stewardship I have to say of the money that I did get. I did not emerge with a student loan. 
Times have changed without a doubt and I wish that things were easier for students now but they are not. That is why it is incumbent upon the Government to actively invest in tertiary education opportunities. The consistency of approach to tertiary education should mirror the consistency that the Minister has achieved in Part 2. Thank you.