McClay Todd: Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
McClay Todd: Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 03 April 2012. Volume:679;Page:1610. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
TODD McCLAY (National—Rotorua) 
: 
 It gives me pleasure to rise and speak on the Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill and a very important piece of legislation it is. I thank the last speaker from the New Zealand First Party Tracey Martin for confirming that her party will be supporting this bill. I believe it is an important decision that it has made. Why is it important? The sum of $1.6 billion was lent by the Government in student loans in 2010-11 and $690 million was repaid in that same period of time. That means the taxpayer has provided an additional subsidy of $940 million during that time.  
We talk about this as Government money but we must remind ourselves in this House that it is not always Government money that is being offered or lent to New Zealand students. It is money that has been provided by hard-working New Zealanders by businesses by taxpayers and we are providing that to people so they can have a brighter future: work hard in universities polytechnics and technical institutes around New Zealand so they can raise the level of skill within the workforce and then go out and improve the New Zealand economy through their hard work. But in so doing they have obligations back to the taxpayer and I believe that this piece of legislation helps them with those obligations.  
The sum of 54.75c per dollar is lent and the Government writes down 45.25c of that. In essence what that means is that hard-working New Zealanders who pay their tax are not seeing the return that they should see on this investment in New Zealanders and their education.  
As of 30 June last year borrowers overseas represented 15 percent of all borrowers; 50 percent of those were in default and 70 percent of the amount they owed was overdue. It is important that New Zealanders have a chance to go overseas—to travel to gain experience to work. As with many members of the House I too spent some time overseas working. But when I was overseas I had an obligation to a bank through a loan. I had a mortgage when I was there and never once did the bank give me a holiday. I entered into a relationship a contract with the bank and every day I had to work hard to make sure that I met that obligation and paid it back.  
So in this instance we are saying to New Zealanders young or old that if they want to travel that is a good thing and we recommend that they do. They have a year to travel and if they return home they will then meet their obligation and if they are overseas for more than a year they must remember the obligation they have—not to the Government not to this House but to the New Zealand taxpayer the mums and dads who are working hard and providing their taxes to the Government to lend to students so that they can better their lives.  
I think this bill does not ask too much. It merely reminds them of their obligation and helps them with that. I look forward to voting for this bill shortly. I commend the bill to the House. Thank you.