Thursday, November 26th, 2009
Youth allowance changes blocked
Proposed changes to youth allowance have been blocked in the senate.
Local member Barry Haase MHR said the proposed changes will deter young country people from going to university.
Mr Haase released a statement you can read here:
Youth Allowance Bill fails due to Gillard mismanagement
The Senate last night voted down Labor’s Youth Allowance legislation, which would have retrospectively impacted upon thousands of Australian students currently in their gap year and destroyed the higher education dreams of thousands of rural and regional students into the future, according to Mr Barry Haase, Federal MP.
“Contrary to popular city based beliefs, the ‘gap year’ undertaken by rural and regional students is a necessity rather than a luxury, to enable them to qualify for the Independent Youth Allowance. They do not ‘swan’ around Europe tanning themselves, but rather, are out there working trying to earn enough money to be deemed independent. This Independent Youth Allowance allows them to help pay rent and buy food whilst they are living in the city, away from their family home, unlike their city cousins who can stay at home with all their creature comforts and still qualify for Independent Youth Allowance”, said Mr Haase.
Under present regulations, students must earn $19,532 within an 18 month period to qualify for Independent Youth Allowance. However the changes proposed by the Rudd Labor Government would have seen these criteria abolished. Instead, a young person would have been required to work full time for a minimum of 30 hours a week for at least 18 months in a two year period to be considered financially independent.
Mr Haase and the Coalition have been lobbying for months to get Ms Gillard to see sense and their tenacity has finally paid off.
“This Bill contained a number of sensible measures that the Coalition would be happy to support – however we will not allow the Government to increase funding to one group of students only by taking away the higher education aspirations of country students. By refusing to accept suitable amendments to their legislation, the Labor Government has placed the scholarships of thousands in jeopardy by abolishing the old Commonwealth Scholarship system in a previous Bill, with their replacements in this Bill without concurrent legislation. It is another example of the Rudd Government cutting off their noses to spite their faces or rather the faces of the youth of Australia.”
“The Coalition warned Ms Gillard that the abolishment of Commonwealth Scholarships without an adequate alternative in place would mean that there will be no scholarships next year. This is exclusively the Government’s fault as they alone control the legislative program.”
“We have made it clear that the Coalition will hold firm on our two primary concerns with this Bill:
1)
The Coalition cannot support legislation that cuts out the ‘gap year’ pathway to Independent Youth Allowance for students who must leave home to attend University, unless a realistic alternative provision is put in place.
2)
The Coalition cannot on principle support legislation that is retrospective in its effect. We note that the Government has moved towards addressing this issue with their new amendments, but we still cannot support their legislation while they are seeking to change the goal posts on any students who made a good faith decision to take a year off in order to earn Independent Youth Allowance based on the advice of Centrelink officials and their schools’ careers advisers.
Government moved amendments that did not address the Coalitions concerns and as such the entire bill was voted down.
“We, the Coalition, have told the Government that if they wish to bring forward a new bill to reintroduce scholarships for 2010, then we will give precedence to that Bill.”
“The Coalition refuses to be blackmailed into supporting retrospective legislation or legislation that unjustly disadvantages rural and regional Australian students seeking to further their education”
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