Bennett David: Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Bennett David: Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Advance Copy - Subject to minor change before inclusion in Bound Volume.] 
DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East) 
: 
 That was a very interesting speech from the New Zealand First member who talked about debt spiralling out of control yet at the same time New Zealand First wants to give extended repayment holidays and it wants to bring in a one-for-one debt write-off ratio. The things do not match and I guess that is the truth of its policy as it goes out there and says what it thinks it wants those voters to hear but does not deliver actual policy that is real and constructive. 
That is the problem that this Government has had to deal with in the student loan area. It was a process done by the previous administration—interest-free student loans—and it led to support amongst the student body as you would no doubt expect but also it meant that there were a couple of problems with that policy. The first problem was that it created a huge debt for New Zealand going forward and my colleagues talked about how nearly half of the amount of money lent on student loans has been lost. So that is a major contributor to the Government’s economic situation. 
The second thing that it did is that it created a situation where you needed to have a cap on the number of students. So we often hear that our opposition talks at universities about caps on students and blames the Government but it was actually brought in by Labour as part of this interest-free student loans policy. I think that is something that needs to be made clear. Labour capped the number of students in New Zealand who could get education. Labour deliberately limited the number of New Zealanders who could get those educational opportunities. It is a bit rich for those members to come into the House now and say otherwise. 
When we look at this bill the Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill this is an attempt to try to get some of that money back that the student loan budget faces in the sense that we are requiring borrowers to provide details of a contact person to StudyLink. That will give the opportunity for the Inland Revenue Department and StudyLink to then be able to follow up and look at those borrowers and will lead to a situation where there will be more repayments. 
As with anything in this area it is not a case where you can necessarily say that that will implicate a certain number of repayments; it is something that relies on the individuals. Setting up a system where you get as much information as possible and setting the process will lead to a better repayment outcome. In essence you will probably see that there is a greater repayment to the Inland Revenue Department and through StudyLink by virtue of people having to put down a contact person. 
There are also some changes around excluding losses from the calculation of income for student loan repayment purposes and that is also to assist in a greater recovery of that loan repayment. Reducing the repayment holiday from 3 years to 1 year is another part of that process. Requiring borrowers to apply for their repayment holiday and provide a New Zealand - based contact person when they go overseas is important as well. 
In essence this bill is an attempt and will be a successful attempt to get some more repayment of that student loan debt. It is something that political parties in this House obviously agree with apart from the Green Party. We look forward to the bill progressing through the House.