Pillay Lynne: Student Loan Scheme (Exemptions and Miscellaneous Provisions) Amendment Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Pillay Lynne: Student Loan Scheme (Exemptions and Miscellaneous Provisions) Amendment Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:660;Page:9413] 
LYNNE PILLAY (Labour) 
: 
 I start my speech by congratulating Moana Mackey. It is really good to hear from a relatively young person and I must say that Moana Mackey is celebrating a birthday very soon. Moana Mackey is very aware of the costs of being a student and the advantages of what happened with the interest-free student loan scheme. The introduction of interest-free loans was one of the proudest moments in Labour’s term in office. Students were absolutely delighted at having some hope of cutting into the principal of the debt they had incurred while they were studying. 
As other speakers have said—and I say it again—the previous Labour Government’s interest-free loan scheme was labelled by then National Opposition as “irresponsible” as “buying votes” and all sorts of other things. National members were absolutely opposed to it. They said it was the worst thing that the Government could ever do. So I guess the name of this bill could be the “Student Loan Scheme (We Didn’t Actually Get Rid of the Interest Free Student Loan Scheme: We Will Make Some Technical Amendments; There Are Other Ways to Fleece Students in This Country) Amendment Bill” 
What would those other ways be? I see Paul Quinn wondering what they could be. Certainly it would be the ability of students in this environment to pay back their loans. The reality for most students is that they study during the year. They have part-time jobs so they do not have to take on so much of a loan. Maybe they work during their holiday period so they are able to pay off some of the principal of their loan. Well that cannot happen under this Government. Has this Government done anything to assist in providing jobs and opportunities? Has it done anything to assist our industries to get through these tough times? No it has not; it has done quite the opposite. Again students are on the wrong side of that but they will go out and look for jobs. 
I know that many members opposite denigrate students but we know that students work very hard. They work hard in their studies and then they try to secure employment to assist them during their study time so they can get rid of some of the principal on their loan. I have spoken to so many students who have said that it just is not possible to get jobs despite the Minister standing in the Chamber and talking about all the opportunities that the Government will give young people. We know in the substance of it that there no jobs or opportunities out there. 
This bill is technical but we also look at what else is on the Government’s agenda. This bill does no harm to students but what could be on the agenda for students in the future? We know there is a veiled threat because we heard the Prime Minister talk about lifting the cap on fees’ institutions. So what do we know will happen? When Labour was in Government we took some very responsible moves which were not supported by the National Opposition at the time to ensure that student fees did not escalate way out of control as they had done under the previous National Government. 
Mr Key has referred to an “inflexible and bureaucratic funding and policy framework”. What does that mean? It means a framework that ensures that student costs do not romp away—that there is a cap on the fees that institutions are able to pay. So Mr Key’s comment tells me that tertiary education will soon move into the National Government’s market approach to things.