25th Nov 2024, 1:16 PM – Senate Universities Accord (Student Support and Other Measures) Bill 2024 - Second Reading - Make university and TAFE free

The majority voted against an amendment introduced by NSW Senator Mehreen Faruqi (Greens), which means it failed. The amendment would have added the text below to the usual second reading motion, which is "that the bill be read a second time" (parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of the bill).

Amendment text

At the end of the motion, add “, but the Senate:

(a) notes that:

(i) students are being shackled by a lifetime of debt which is making the cost of living crisis worse, locking people out of the housing market, causing people to delay having families and crushing dreams of going to university,

(ii) the Government’s plan to provide student debt relief will still see student debts rise by 11.5% in their first term and arts degrees costing over $50,000, as the Government has failed to address the Coalition’s punitive job-ready graduates fee hikes,

(iii) the student debt system cannot be fixed because student debt should not exist and higher education, like education at every level, is an essential public good that should be free, universal and provided by the Government,

(iv) mandatory unpaid placements are causing students to forego paid work, choose between groceries, rent and medicine, drop out of universities and are taking an immense toll on students’ health,

(v) students experiencing placement poverty need urgent relief and should be paid for every hour of work they are required to do as part of their degree, at least at minimum wage, not a lesser supplementary amount; and

(b) calls on the Government to wipe all student debt, make university and TAFE free, and pay all students doing mandatory placements at no less than minimum wage rates”.