Pillay Lynne: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Pillay Lynne: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:624;Page:18966] 
8.  
LYNNE PILLAY (Labour—Waitakere) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: What recent reports if any has he received on average student loan repayment times? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Minister of Education) 
: 
 I have recently received a report that shows that 40 percent of borrowers had completely repaid their loans within 6 years of leaving study and a further 10 percent had repaid three-quarters of their debt. The report shows that the average student loan repayment time is down to 9.3 years compared with 14.8 years when Steve Maharey took charge of the area. Labour has delivered on our pledge to make the loan scheme fairer. 
Lynne Pillay 
: Is there any correlation between the levels of a graduate student loan debt and future income; if so what? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Yes. Students with bigger student loans at the time of graduation generally earn higher incomes and pay their loans back more quickly—absolutely as well as relatively. For example students studying health leave with more debt but they have the highest post-study incomes and repay their loan debts faster. 
Craig McNair 
: What will the Minister do about the major problem facing students today that has the average student debt increasing from $13743 in 2001 to $18726 in 2004 giving young New Zealanders a bleak outlook under this Labour Government? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I am not sure that the member’s figures are right. I am happy to offer him a briefing on them. 
Nandor Tanczos 
: Can the Minister assure the House that the reduction in average student debt repayment times that he has just told us about cannot be attributed at least partly to lower starting levels of debt because of an increase in sub-degree courses; if he cannot give us that assurance is this not just being cute with the figures? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I can give the member a number of assurances. The starting debts are lower than they would have been because there is no interest when people are studying more students are eligible for allowances and average fees have dropped significantly. 
Nandor Tanczos 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. My question was specifically around the increase in sub-degree courses and the resulting lower starting debt as a result of that and I would be obliged if the Minister would actually answer that question. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I am prepared to supplement my answer by indicating to the member that it is people who have degrees and are therefore more likely to have higher incomes who pay their debts off faster than people who have equivalent debts from sub-degree courses. 
Bernie Ogilvy 
: What impact will the decision to abolish the independent circumstances allowance have on average student loan repayment times? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Marginal. 
Craig McNair 
: I seek leave to table page 27 of the 2004 student income and expenditure survey prepared for the New Zealand University Students Association outlining the statistics referred to in my question to the Minister. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I seek leave to table an authoritative document—that is the document prepared on the basis of the facts collected by the Inland Revenue Department and the Ministry of Education rather than one that asked a few students what their debt was. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Is there any objection to that document being tabled? There is. 
Dail Jones 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. It seems to me that the Minister has just committed some type of breach because in his answer to Craig McNair he said he did not have the information but now he is saying he does have the information and he wants to table it. All I can say is why did the Minister not answer the question he was asked by Craig McNair when he had the information all the time and that he now wants to lodge before the House to which we have not objected. It is very contradictory. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I am quite prepared to have the document sent to the House so I can table it. I do not have it with me now but in the interests of having quality information rather than things made up by students in front of the House I am prepared to table the accurate information. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: My colleague asked a question and he was dismissed by the Minister on the basis that he did not have those figures and he was happy to give him a briefing. But he did have figures and he just sought to table. The least he could have done was to deal with the figures that he had so that question time could be meaningful rather than a total waste of time where my colleague was concerned. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: The Minister offered to table the information; the House did not give leave.