Clark David: Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Clark David: Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill — In Committee 
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Dr DAVID CLARK (Labour—Dunedin North) 
: 
 I rise to take a call and as I do I want to comment to start off that this is perhaps one of the least offensive provisions in the Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill. So my comments must be taken in that context.  
As I start I just want to remind us of a few facts. I do want to talk about the barriers that this presents because I think it contributes further in some small way to the barriers to tertiary education that I spoke about in debate on Part 1. Reminding ourselves that 58 percent of the borrowers are women that $17000 is the average amount held in a student loan and that the total debt is $12 billion these provisions in this particular part Part 2 are all aimed at grabbing back—grasping back perhaps we could say—some of that debt hole that is running up. The contact person is a means of getting to those who have money owing and perhaps it is those who have taken a repayment holiday and who have disappeared into the ether.  
There is a sense that this is all part of the same objective and it is all aimed at grasping back $5 million of a $12 billion debt. In that context the fact that we are spending an estimated $2761000 worth of parliamentary time to pass this bit of legislation is infuriating. It is spurious to suggest that this will encourage students to repay when the Government’s own officials at Treasury and the Ministry of Education have questioned whether this is really true. In fact they suggest that this legislation as it relates to those who are overseas may in fact encourage them to stay overseas. It presents a barrier in that respect.  
The Labour Party is of course opposed to barriers to tertiary education and this relates to our belief in the basic principles of fairness and opportunity. They are principles that National has historically tended to ignore when it comes to dealing with the student loan scheme. We will remember that Labour introduced interest-free loans and National introduced a fee for administration— 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: Order! This is quite a narrow debate. It is the transitional provisions. 
Dr DAVID CLARK 
: Just returning to the point which is about collecting this debt and the role of contact people in that—Mr Chairman I thank you for your guidance—I really wanted to say and I will draw to a close shortly that the parents of a person undertaking tertiary education are the best predictors of that person’s outcome and they will likely be the people who are those contact people. If there is a sense when students go to undertake tertiary education that they are going to be reported on by their parents if they fail to meet some of the payments or they fall into difficult circumstances whilst overseas that will be very disappointing indeed. That is why I think it is important that this is clearly signalled to those whom it will affect and that we remain conscious of the potential barrier—another potential barrier—to tertiary education that could exist in naming a contact person and making that contact person provision stronger.  
As I have said at the beginning and to conclude this is perhaps one of the least offensive provisions in the bill but I think it is worth considering the implications of it. Thank you.