Peachey Allan: Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill (No 2) — In Committee 
Peachey Allan: Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill (No 2) — In Committee 
[Volume:638;Page:8227] 
ALLAN PEACHEY (National—Tamaki) 
: 
 National is supporting this bill the Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill (No 2) but that is not to say that National members do not have some reservations about it or points that we would like to make. It is very important that the incentive is there for our young graduates to return to New Zealand—that is a point that has been made by speaker after speaker—but let us be very very clear about what this legislation is all about. 
I must say that it is better legislation for the work that was done in the select committee under Mr Donnelly’s leadership. The legislation is quite complex and the work that the select committee did has improved this bill considerably. Let us be very clear that what we are dealing with is a tidying-up of a bit of a mess which came about not because the policy of interest-free student loans was carefully considered and thought through—and a judgment was reached that this was actually something that New Zealand would want to do should do and needed to do—but because it was a policy rushed out 2 weeks or 10 days before an election in order to buy votes. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: Just before your tax cuts. 
ALLAN PEACHEY 
: I listened to the interjection from the member of New Zealand First Brian Donnelly and I will reflect for a moment on a meeting I had the other day in my electorate of Tamaki with half a dozen mums and dads who between them—each family—are working three or four low-paid jobs just to keep their heads above water get their children to school get them school uniforms and that sort of thing. The point that these people made to me was very simple; they said they were taxpayers and they did not wish to be dependants of the State but they were finding that the more they worked and took on extra jobs to help their kids—yet they knew they were not because it meant they were away from them so much more—the more heavily they were penalised by tax. Their plea to me was to advocate for a flat tax rate—and these are some of the lowest-paid workers in New Zealand! 
I want to express the wish that those borrowers who benefit now from the holiday on repayment and that sort of thing will actually take a moment to respect that this comes at a cost and that other New Zealanders—many of them who are not in a position to do so and many of them who would like to take more responsibility for their families than they can—are actually paying taxes so that this can work. I come to the repayment holiday period for people who are overseas and if I could send a message to those graduates it would be that they should respect what this House is doing to assist them and realise that it is in their best interests to pay back the money. If they borrow money then they should pay it back; they do not earn a lot of respect from their fellow New Zealanders by taking the money and then seeking ways of avoiding paying it back. I would urge those young New Zealanders who are considering taking the holiday to contemplate whether it would not be better for them and better for their fellow New Zealanders if they made every effort to continue paying back their loans. 
We hear a lot from young people today about the hardships of loans and of going to university. I have four young adult children all of whom are either at university or have gone through university and graduated so I understand as well as anybody the challenges and the difficulties. But it was actually no easier in my time. In actual fact I would have had more options available to me had a student loan – type scheme been operating. So it is important to keep this sort of thing in context. 
National supports this bill but National members are a little bit uncomfortable about having to tidy up what we think is untidy legislation. We want young New Zealanders to come back but we also want borrowers to respect the contribution that their fellow New Zealanders—taxpayers—are making. Borrowers should bear in mind that there is a group of New Zealanders out there who really struggle to make ends meet who pay their taxes honestly who do not want to live off the State and who want to get a fair break for their children. The taxes that those New Zealanders are paying—some of which will contribute towards this measure—will actually mitigate against their ability to do that.