Opinion article for The Sun-Herald by Warren Truss
7th June, 2009
The “gap year”, a rite of passage for so many of Australian students, has become a “year of fear” for many following surprise Federal Budget changes to the Youth Allowance.After slaving away for 13 years in school and ahead of a few more in university or TAFE, many students – particularly those from regional areas – head off to work on the farm, in regional small businesses, or to the cities in search of employment.
The gap year provides a good break in their studies and encourages a strong work ethic. It also allows students to access the Independent Youth Allowance if they work for at least 15 months over an 18 month period or earn more than $19,532 in that time.
But suddenly in the Budget, the system was changed. Eligibility criteria were toughened and about 30,000 students found that now they will need work at least 30 hours a week for 18 months in a two year period to qualify.
The hopes and plans of a whole class of students have been shattered and I can barely remember a single issue creating such community uproar. The Nationals have been absolutely bombarded with emails, texts, phone calls and letters from concerned parents, students and educators, who feel they have been cheated.
I have been contacted by hundreds of people, while Victorian Nationals MP Darren Chester saw 2500 in his electorate sign a petition. NSW Senator John Williams received 55 emails in a single day, and his NSW colleague Fiona Nash will now chair a Senate inquiry into the broader issue of adequate opportunities for students who have to live away from home to further their education.
But it’s not just country people affected; city kids who need to attend regional universities are similarly affected.
Already, only about one-third as many rural and remote students obtain a tertiary qualification as those who live in the cities. It costs country families about $15,000 extra per year to send a student to a city university. They must travel hundreds of kilometres to attend and Labor’s plans will make this disadvantage even worse.
There is nothing fair about this change at all. It penalises students trying to do the right thing and saddles them with poverty, or forces them to give up their dream of further education. Most universities only allow courses to be deferred for one year – so 18 months of fulltime work means no place is left.
Unfortunately, this treatment of regional people is becoming par for the course under Rudd Labor.
The first Labor Budget last year slashed more than $1 billion out of regional spending on telecommunications, agricultural and regional development programs.
Twelve months later, nothing has changed. The second Swan Budget again cut deep into non-metropolitan Australia.
More than seven million people live outside the cities, and they are involved in the creation of an overwhelmingly large proportion of our national wealth and export income. In fact, without the recent boost to exports from the agricultural sector, our economy would certainly have been back-peddling for three quarters by now.
As we remain mired in the worst drought in a century, the Government has abolished Exceptional Circumstances drought support from next year. A replacement is apparently coming, but looking at Labor’s record over 18 months you know farmers will get little sympathy.
The respected Land and Water Australia was abolished, and funding for the Rural Industries and Research Corporation slashed. So much for Labor’s concern about climate change.
The Rudd Government also broke a promise to deliver a specific regional development funding program in its 2009 Budget.
Labor says its Better Regions program funds community, economic and environmental projects. However, the program was never opened to receive applications, and it only exists to fund promises by Labor’s election candidates.
This week we discovered that Labor’s new road building program for projects off the national network is a $655 million pork barrel. Of the projects to be funded, 82 percent are in Labor seats and most of the rest are in electorates targeted by the ALP at the last election.
Labor’s undeclared war on regional Australia and those who didn’t vote for it continues.
