MIRABELLA, COALTITION COMMITTED TO HELPING LOCAL YOUTH

19-August-2009

Today the Coalition moved a motion in Parliament calling on Julia Gillard to come to the table and support the Coalition’s proposed amendments to the Youth Allowance changes that have made it difficult for our local young people to qualify for the Youth Allowance, which the Government shut down.

“The Coalition’s amendments aim to fix the legislation so that gap year students are not affected by the Government’s changes, and will still be able to apply for the Youth Allowance under the old system,” Sophie Mirabella MP, Federal Member for Indi said today.

“By moving the motion in Parliament, the Coalition provided Ms Gillard with an opportunity to fix this flawed legislation – instead her Labor colleagues refused to debate the issue,” Mrs Mirabella said.

 Many young people in the area have to move to the city if they are to pursue further study. The average local family already helps their children who leave home to go to uni but cannot afford the tens of thousands of dollars required to support their child’s move, accommodation and living expenses while studying at University.

Mrs Mirabella said that it seems that the Labor Government only cares about what happens to city kids. Julia Gillard is a part-time Education Minister who sat in Parliament without even having the guts to defend her own policy.

“Parents who have contacted me are telling me that they are finding it difficult to make ends meet as it is, and they simply could not afford the extra costs of sending their son or daughter to uni without the support of the Youth Allowance,” Mrs Mirabella said.

The problem facing many of students from farming and small business families in particular is that because of their parent’s asset values, the Government says they don’t qualify for the dependent rate of the Youth Allowance.

“The ridiculous thing about the Governments system is that if that child was from the city, where they could stay at home to attend uni, but their parents didn’t have the property assets, they’d be eligible to receive the Youth Allowance as well!” Mrs Mirabella said.

The Government’s changes to the Youth allowance fly in the face of Kevin Rudd’s promise at the last election to create an "an education revolution to create one of the most highly educated and skilled nations on Earth."

“The Coalition is trying to tell Ms Gillard that rural students will be left out of Labor’s so called ‘education revolution’ if she goes ahead with these changes,” Mrs Mirabella said.

The Coalition will also introduce a new Rural and Regional Scholarship program to assist all regional students get to university, this will be available even for those who don’t qualify for the Youth Allowance. In addition, the Coalition will continue with their plan to hold a Senate Inquiry into the Government’s changes.