Clark David: Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill (No 3) — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeClark David: Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill (No 3) — In Committee[Sitting date: 18 February 2014. Volume:696;Page:16046. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Dr DAVID CLARK (Labour—Dunedin North): Thank you for the call Mr Chair. I realise that out of the wealth of options you had before you that I should be honoured that you selected me to speak at this point in the debate.The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): I am sure.Dr DAVID CLARK: It is very touching. I rise really to support Mr Robertson’s suggestion that this Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill (No 3) Bill be renamed the “Denying New Zealanders Opportunity Bill” because I think that does aptly describethe general thrust of the bill. The Tertiary Education Union said in its submission—and this really clarifies the point—that this bill is a poor alternative to making education more affordable and accessible.This bill uses Parliament’s time to refine a few rules in this legislation and primarily to put a gimmick in place that provides the provision to arrest at the border. We know it will see a few New Zealanders victimised at some stage when they are selected from those who owe money when they are perhaps returning to the country to attend a family funeral or a wedding or other significant occasion. It is a distasteful gimmick. The police have said that they do not have the resources to implement it and we know that it is a crazy idea but the Government seems determined to persevere with it and so that is why we are here this evening.This bill moves in the wrong direction. It is designed to make the scheme more punitive. We on this side of the Chamber support a review of student loans and allowances to ensure that they really do support every New Zealander to have the opportunity to make the best of their gifts and talents so that they can contribute to New Zealand in the way that they have the energy to do and in the way that they want to do. We do not think that the original intent of the student loan scheme was to turn New Zealanders in exile into enemies of the State—far from it. On this side of the Chamber we think the intent was to support students and it should be strengthened in that regard rather than working our way through the kind of authoritarian posturing that has been put forward here by the Government members.The one lighter note in all of this of course is the tongue-in-cheek additions and flourishes that the officials have put in there. I think that they really must be commended for their ingenuity. Making the commencement dates in the past and on 1 April really does highlight the point that this bill is a joke. It really does. I would like to tip my hat to the official who proposed these dates. I think that subtle sense of humour is the dignified way in which officials make it known that their political masters have reached the edge of ridiculousness and that is certainly what we see in this bill which is indeed all about denying opportunity.We have heard this from others in the debate. Mr Goldsmith talked about an entitlement culture amongst students essentially asking that students reform themselves stop borrowing money to afford to live and somehow magic their way through university. That was his contribution. We had Mr Bennett stand up and suggest that those who went to university or undertook tertiary education—even trade training—are some kind of socialist elite and essentially some kind of enemy of the State. That was a bizarre contribution but that really has been the sum total of contributions from that side of the Chamber. Government members have not been prepared to stand up and defend this ridiculous notion that we ought to be arresting at the border those who do not have the means to repay their student loans. We on this side of the Chamber would like to see more constructive solutions put forward. Perhaps the Minister responsible—who is the Minister sitting in the chair the Minister of Revenue—will finally take a call to defend this bill because his silence at the moment is very telling and the words of the officials—those clauses coming into effect on 1 April—speak far louder than the Minister’s own contribution in this debate.On this side of the Chamber we would really like to see the Privacy Commissioner’s concerns looked into more—the data-sharing arrangements behind the scenes for those who are in fact compliant borrowers. We would like to see a more generous student support scheme so that more New Zealanders are supported into education that betters their lot and the lot of New Zealand over time. We would like to see a New Zealand that is going forward and where everyone is benefiting and everyone has opportunities to get ahead not just the wealthiest few who can afford to hire accountants to get around thelaws in order to preserve their wealth and access the things that we would all want access to for our society.The bill itself really is all about amending the interest-free student loan scheme which was one of the achievements of the Clark Labour Government. I would like us all to reflect upon that great achievement of making studies more accessible because the punitive and unsustainable interest charges from student loans that were introduced by the National Government were making education less and less accessible in the 1990s. We are seeing here a retread policy from the National Party as its members seek once again to exclude people. This is part of a broader package. We have heard from Mr Lees-Galloway about vets in his electorate who have been punished through this restriction of access to loans and allowances. I have mentioned the medical students in my own electorate who are struggling to get through their studies now that their time has run out. Mature students—in particular those who have taken the time to have a broader education before getting into medicine—are amongst those who are particularly disadvantaged. Master’s degree students and those looking to retrain and make a contribution to society—having taken time off perhaps to raise a family and now returning to study—find themselves punished by this Government.We on this side of the Chamber think that is not right. We think education should be something that is available to more and more New Zealanders not fewer and fewer New Zealanders. We believe that there should be incentives in place for people to get amongst it to do the hard yards to study and to contribute to New Zealand in new ways. We opposed of course the charges that National put in place as administration charges when National members realised that they could not put interest back on to loans—that it was not politically sustainable. Through gritted teeth they are trying to wean us off the loan scheme but they have not got there completely yet.I ask students everywhere in the country to note what is happening here tonight in this bill to note the pattern of this National Government which tries to restrict study and ask themselves whether that is the right thing for our future in New Zealand and to vote in the next election accordingly. This Government has a terrible track record in student support. It does not like supporting students from all backgrounds to get ahead. It does not think that education is something that everyone should have access to in the way that Labour does. Welcome again to the students of my electorate of Dunedin North who are arriving there this week. It is great. I look forward to seeing them tomorrow in Dunedin. It is always great to have students in Dunedin. They bring so much life to our town and I am very glad that they can still access an interest-free student loan despite the wishes of this Government.