Mackey Moana: General Debate 
Mackey Moana: General Debate 
[Volume:630;Page:2293] 
MOANA MACKEY (Labour) 
: 
 This has been a very interesting debate. National is obviously and clearly rattled by the Government’s Working for Families package the next stages of which are going to be rolled out on 1 April 2006. It is very amusing to be lectured on beneficiary numbers and how to get people off benefits and into work by a party that saw beneficiary numbers spiral out of control and saw those people who were living on a benefit pushed further and further into poverty. This Government has a phenomenal record of moving people off benefits and into work. I wonder whether the $11 billion worth of tax cuts that National promised at the last election would have come at the cost of cutting many of the good programmes. They might not suit National Party rhetoric but they are actually delivering results. At the end of the day that is what we are here for. 
But I want to talk today about the student loan policy because 1 April 2006 will be a red-letter day for students. This is something that students have fought for for a long time. It will benefit students who have already been through the system it will benefit students who are currently in the system and it will benefit future students. This Government thinks that one should definitely pay back the loan that one has borrowed but one should not be crippled by the burden of the interest that is charged upon it. I endorse that policy. I remember what it was like to be a student under Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith who was so proud of his student support policy that he was climbing out of windows at universities to avoid talking to students about it. But I do hear in recent times that he has felt a little bit of remorse perhaps about the way the student support policy was introduced. Although I welcome that I say that it is too little too late. 
The student loan policy and the interest charged on student debt have caused a number of sociological problems that if not dealt with now will cause big headaches for Governments in the future. We make a number of presumptions when we look at issues such as superannuation. One presumption is that people will own a freehold home by the time they reach superannuation so that they can survive on the level of superannuation that we afford to all superannuitants. With the advent of the student loan debt we have seen young people—single couples or families—delaying first having a family and second buying a home to the point where there is concern that they may never own a freehold house and that that would severely impact on future Governments. I am very very pleased that this Government has decided to take charge and to make a bold move today to nip that in the bud. 
It is very interesting when one hears members on the opposite side of the House constantly bleating at the Government about the brain drain. They are constantly saying that we have all these people going overseas and asking what are we are doing about it. I have a lot of friends who are overseas. Most of them left during the National Government—I do not know whether that was deliberate; it was probably just because they graduated and went on their OEs if I am to be fair—but they have not come back. Why have they not come back? Because they have not set up student loan payments. This Government is putting in place an amnesty that will allow students without penalty to set up loan repayments from overseas. Many people I know who are overseas will do that. But what is particularly good is that they are talking about coming home. While they were overseas they could escape their student debt. 
Members opposite seem to think that graduates think more of tax cuts than they do of the fact that they pay 10c in every dollar that they earn straight over to the Inland Revenue Department. National has no idea about the incentives involved in repaying a student loan. The biggest incentive to repay your student loan is when you see that there is finally light at the end of the tunnel; when you make your repayments and you see— 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Order! You are bringing the Speaker into it. 
MOANA MACKEY 
: Sorry Mr Assistant Speaker. I know that you do not have a student loan. The biggest incentive for people to repay their student loans is when they see that there is finally a light at the end of tunnel and that the interest is not so burdensome that they are never going to get on top of it. Indeed in the 1990s under the National Government I thought I would never get rid of my student loan. I thought there was a very real prospect that for the rest of my life I would be servicing the interest by paying 10c in every dollar straight over to the Inland Revenue Department and that I would probably die with my student loan. There were many other students who felt the same way. 
Incremental changes over the years have made this a lot better and made a difference. I see Brian Donnelly putting up his hand and I acknowledge him. But we need a bold move; we need a bold change. Remember students do not have a choice about whether to pay back their student loans. It is not like they can suddenly decide that because there is no interest they will not repay them. They are compelled by law to pay 10c in every dollar. We say to them that we value the contribution that graduates make to this country.