Labor has admitted that its Budget Reply thought bubble to unilaterally impose a cap on VET FEE-HELP loans will lead to up-front fees for VET students.
Tonight, Ed Husic was asked three times whether Australian students would have to pay up-front costs to access VET, and finally came clean on Labor’s classist policy.
PRESENTER: Okay, but can you definitively tell our viewers, will there be up-front costs?
HUSIC: If you are capping it there are going to be some people who will have to pay more, that’s the reality.
Ed Husic on the 7.30 Report, ABC Friday May 6, 2016
It is now clear that under Labor students will be forced to choose a course based on what they can afford, rather than what is best for them and their job prospects.
As it stands, eligible Australian students studying diploma-level courses or above can access a VET FEE-HELP loan from approved institutions. However, last night the Labor Party announced an $8000 cap per student per year.
Minister for Vocational Education and Skills, Senator the Hon Scott Ryan said that Labor’s record in VET is disastrous. In 2012 Labor opened up VET FEE-HELP to shonky providers and predatory brokers with no consideration of the implications of the lack of protections for students and taxpayers.
“Last night in Bill Shorten’s Budget Reply, Labor repeated the mistakes that created its VET FEE-HELP disaster in 2012,” Minister Ryan said.
“Under Labor, VET students will now be forced to choose between the course they want to do and the course that they can afford,”
“This is Labor’s latest thought-bubble, borne out of no consultation with stakeholders, students or providers.” Minister Ryan said, adding that the TAFE sector had complained about the lack on consultation on the $8000 cap number.
“This seems to be a completely random number,” TAFE Directors Australia chief executive Martin Riordan said.
‘Completely random’: TAFEs warn against Labor’s $8000 fee cap – Matthew Knott
Sydney Morning Herald Friday May 6
There are multiple examples of “proper, sensible” courses – as Chris Bowen described them on ABC AM this morning – that do not fit under Labor’s $8000 cap.
In clear contrast to Labor’s knee-jerk reaction to their VET FEE-HELP disaster, the Coalition has already put in more than a dozen measures to reign in dodgy providers, and to protect students and taxpayers.
The Coalition has undertaken a national consultation process with VET FEE-HELP stakeholders and has released a comprehensive discussion paper, Redesigning VET FEE-HELP Discussion Paper, to inform a complete redesign of the VET FEE-HELP scheme for 2017.
There is a stark contrast this election in VET FEE-HELP. Labor’s approach is to continue to announce thought bubbles in an attempt to divert attention from their record failure and scandal. The Coalition is conducting open and frank analyses of what went wrong with Labor’s VET FEE-HELP scheme, and a genuine process of expert and sector consultation to redesign the scheme in the interest of students and taxpayers.
Media: Gemma Sandlant 0428 421 384