Barry Maggie: Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill (No 3) — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBarry Maggie: Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill (No 3) — First Reading[Sitting date: 27 August 2013. Volume:693;Page:13029. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MAGGIE BARRY (National—North Shore): Well hard on the heels of Grant Robertson’s “weak weak gimmick” which would be the epitaph of contender No. 2—or is he No. 3; where is the smart money these days—I would have to say that the smart money when it comes to the Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill (No 3) is on people repaying their debts. Pay it back. I too have had letters. The Greens were talking a little earlier about how they had had elaborate letters from people who felt they were under extreme hardship and who had taken choices to have a family to get higher education or to move overseas and then they complained about paying back their debt. Well Ihave also had a lot of letters from people who are unhappy about the student loan repayment scheme because they are students who have repaid their debt and they are not at all happy with the bludgers as they call them and thewelchers. It is a debt; it is not a gift. It is something that they have to give back.Simon O’Connor: Not a bribe from the Labour Party.MAGGIE BARRY: It is not a bribe from the Labour Party—good thought. It has been in the past. No no we have put that on the straight and narrow. It is an important matter of principle and I am not surprised that the buffoons on the other side of the Chamber do not understand this principle. It is about entering into an obligation and then fulfilling that obligation.As a nation we need students. They are special they need to be cultivated and they need to get a good education. They also need to take personal responsibility own up to the agreement that they made and pay their debts back. That is fair. That is why we gave the loans to them. If they do not do that why should they get special treatment? Why should they not be treated in the same way as all other tax defaulters are? They need to be held accountable and that is what we are suggesting in this bill.I think others have gone through the numbers. They have talked about the amount of money that people particularly overseas have paid. One of the interesting things I heard—because I did sit through the select committee on this unlike a lot of the speakers on the opposing side—Tracey Martin: It hasn’t been to select committee yet.MAGGIE BARRY: —when I listened carefully to some of the submitters the Inland Revenue Department for example was that it had some really interesting points to make. And if the yap yap yap of thechihuahua could just stay silent she might learn something to her advantage—namely that the Inland Revenue Department’s experience showed that 70 percent—Hon Trevor Mallard: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Two points: I think we are on the first reading of this bill and I think that is relatively important but more important although I am a person who appreciates and likes animals the description of one of my colleagues from New Zealand First in those terms is just not acceptable.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): Well I am sorry I did not hear that comment but I just caution the member. And we are on a first reading.MAGGIE BARRY: Speaking to the point of order I did not mention a New Zealand First member. That was that member’s one plus one makes two. The maths Mr Mallard is not correct so your point of order is wasted on most of us if not you.Hon Trevor Mallard: Point of order Mr Speaker—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): Order! No I will deal with this. [Interruption] Order! Look when I have ruled on a matter that is the end of it and we do not enter into any further comments on the Speaker’s ruling.MAGGIE BARRY: As I was saying as I was about to wrap up my call the Inland Revenue Department talked about the success that it has had with contacting the families of overseas-based borrowers whereby those borrowers actually do pay back their loans at a high rate and that is because the parents are ashamed. The parents get the call and they go: “This is awful. We’re not going to put up with this.” They ring their children and put on quite a lot of pressure and it actually works.So too will these measures. Arrest at the border is an extreme measure that might be brought into position. It might be put into use if it is absolutely essential. These are measures that we have to take very reluctantly in order to bring a small number of defaulters back into line. And a student loan is exactly that. It needs to be paid back because it is not a gift. That is a very good position and that is why I commend this bill to the House very happily. Thank you.