Tanczos Nandor: Budget Debate 
Tanczos Nandor: Budget Debate 
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NANDOR TANCZOS (Green) 
: 
 When it comes to tertiary education this Budget is an old dog. It is not a vicious killer dog—a pit bull or an angry Rottie. It is more like an old Labrador—the kind of scabby dog that is friendly enough but that slobbers on people’s trousers when they are seated at the table. It is the kind of dog that means people have to wash their hands after they pat it to get rid of the odour and the fur. Unlike last year’s Budget this year’s Budget did not bite tertiary students. Last year the Government scrapped the independent circumstances allowance and savaged the financial position of students who had planned their study programme around access to that allowance. Last year’s Budget was a vicious guard dog protecting the Government’s surplus. It is now well known that despite the promises of the Government that 36000 more students would benefit from the changes to the allowance system in fact fewer students receive a student allowance this year than last year. No this Budget is not like that. It does not bite students—it does not even bark at them. It comes in for a pat but leaves a pungent odour on the hand of the unwary. Then it waddles away to fall asleep by the fireplace dreaming of its past doggy glories when it still had enough puff left to give some chase. 
This Budget does contain a few good initiatives but they are totally marginal. What it provides for tertiary students would be excellent additions to a core package that did something serious about student debt. But there is no core package. There is only garnish; there is no meal here. Like the poor and like the environmentalists students have a right to feel cheated. The Budget offers them froth. Members should not get me wrong—at least the Budget gives students that. A National-led Government would have offered a much more bitter pill—a more measly allowance scheme with even more restricted eligibility and harsher implementation. National would have screwed down spending on tertiary education for our young people—for our future—in order to fund tax cuts for its campaign contributors. As Moana Mackey said tax cuts for National members and their rich friends are at the heart of National’s economic policy. That is why the Greens could not support a Government with the kind of short-sighted exclusive and self-serving approach taken by the current National Party. That is why the Greens have said that we will support Labour to be the Government after the election if we can negotiate an agreeable policy agreement. 
Student support and graduate debt are clearly areas that we take a great deal of interest in. The issue of student debt is enormously important for our country. It is not just an issue for students; it affects many people who have been through the tertiary education system in the last 15 years. In June 2004 the total number of borrowers was 418000—13.2 percent of the population aged 15 years and over. That is a staggering statistic. Further to that student debt affects our whole society. Evidence is growing about the impact of student debt on fertility rates migration rates homeownership the urban concentration of professionals career choice and study choice. 
Student debt is a time bomb for our country. According to a 2004 report from the Ministry of Education the Inland Revenue Department and the Ministry of Social Development forecast gross debt levels will rise from over $7 billion today to $10.5 billion by 2010 $13 billion by 2015 and $15 billion by 2020. The Greens believe that far from being 20/20 it is myopic in the extreme to allow that to continue. That is why the Green Party is advocating a debt write-off scheme for student debt. We say that for every year a person stays in the country and works the equivalent of full time whether in paid work or unpaid work we should wipe the debt accumulated in 1 year of study. 
The most debilitating thing about student debt is that for some people it never ends. Again according to the report I referred to before of those who last borrowed in 1997 only 18 percent had repaid their debt in 2000 and nearly half had a debt that was no smaller in 2000 than it was in 1997. The Government’s focus on average repayment times does not tell the real story for real students. A significant number of people on low incomes will never see an end to their debt under current policies. We believe that there should be an end to debt if people stay in the country and contribute to New Zealand society. Why do we expect people to become social workers nurses or workers in any of the myriad of professions that require tertiary education but that do not recognise that in the pay scales of their practitioners? It amazes me that anyone goes into those fields of work at all. I commend the New Zealanders who continue to study for those professions regardless of the many disincentives because they have a vocation and a real desire to help others. 
A TNS survey conducted for the New Zealand University Students Association found that the greatest impact of debt according to students was on their ability to save for the future buy a house and choose when to go overseas. Around half of those surveyed said that having a loan would affect their relationship with their partner and 28 percent said that it would have an impact on when and whether they had children. Among recent teaching graduates 41 percent considered leaving New Zealand because of debt 60 percent said that their student loan impacted on their study and 30 percent said that having a student loan would influence their decision to have children. Around half the debt was incurred to pay for living costs because of inadequate access to student allowances. Only one-third of full-time students are eligible for an allowance according to the New Zealand University Students Association report of 2004. 
The Greens recognise that the Government has made some small improvements in terms of access to allowances. We have seen adjustments to the parental income threshold and greater recognition in this Budget of the challenges when parents are separated. But we reiterate that the changes do not go anywhere near far enough. We also recognise and acknowledge the moves around the maximum allowable income. We have raised with the Government in this House the issue of how the rules around maximum allowable income are interpreted. We recognise that the threshold has been raised to $180 per week and we welcome that. We would also like a commitment from the Government that the implementation of the regulations will be in line with the Student Allowance Appeal Authority’s repeated decisions which the Ministry of Social Development continues to ignore. As I said the changes do not go far enough. The Greens will continue to call for a universal student allowance for all full-time students a cap on and a reduction in tertiary student fees and a debt write-off scheme year for year.