Alliance Party
Sunday 27 January 2008
Alliance Party calls for abolition of student loan scheme
Alliance Party co-leader Kay Murray says the only way to deal with student debt is to scrap the current scheme
altogether.
"Fees and student loans have to go, that's all there is to it. No amount of tinkering, along the lines proposed by
National and Labour, will fix the scheme because it simply doesn't work. It never has worked."
Ms Murray says large amounts of taxpayer money are paid into tertiary training, with fees representing only a small
proportion of tertiary institutions income.
"Unfortunately the loans represent a huge cost to students, especially in the early part of their working lives, when
they are likely to be faced with an overpriced housing market and perhaps the costs of a new family as well. So much so
that many of them are leaving the country – for good. This is a complete waste of the taxpayers money that paid for the
bulk of their training."
Ms Murray says research carried out on behalf of the New Zealand Union of Students' Associations (NZUSA) shows that
average student debt is over 147 percent higher than in 1998, with average student debt now reaching a stunning $28,838.
She says the Alliance Party would immediately abolish both tertiary fees and the loan scheme.
"The Alliance would replace loans with a new scheme that would see everyone in tertiary study receive the equivalent of
the unemployment benefit. Existing student debt would have to be written off – there is no other fair way of doing it."
Ms Murray says this is not necessarily a big deal as student debt levels are so high, many people will not get their
loan paid off in their lifetime anyway – especially if they are in low paid employment, take time out to raise their
families, or accrue interest because they go overseas for a time.
"It is widely acknowledged that New Zealander needs a highly skilled work force to compete in the global economy. This
means everyone needs access to tertiary training not just once but perhaps several times over their working life to keep
their skills current and relevant."
The Alliance believes that free, high quality and easily accessible tertiary education paid for through progressive
taxation is the only way to achieve this for the bulk of the population.
Ms Murray says this is a sound investment that will not only benefit the individual students, but will be repaid to the
taxpayer through increased tax take from the higher salaries earned by our skilled workforce and availability of a pool
of high quality staff for our schools, hospitals, other public services, and businesses.
ENDS