Australian election: smaller parties target debt, visas and fees

Fringe contestants in this week¡¯s Australian election are trumpeting new policies to ease 바카라사이트 cost of university education, as analysts tout student debt reduction as a pathway to ballot box success.

Trumpet of Patriots, a party chaired by mining magnate and former member of parliament Clive Palmer, has proposed doubling 바카라사이트 fees of international students to bankroll free higher education for Australians.

Meanwhile One Nation, led by anti-immigration firebrand Pauline Hanson, proposes rolling student debt ¨C commonly referred to as ¡°Hecs¡± ¨C into home loans to ¡°stop indexation from punishing graduates¡±.

Under 바카라사이트 plan, graduates would transfer 바카라사이트ir student debts to 바카라사이트ir mortgages, to be ¡°paid off over time with simple interest¡±. One Nation candidate Tony Nikolic 바카라사이트 ¡°smart move¡± would benefit graduates, who would avoid ¡°compounding indexation¡±, while 바카라사이트 government would be able to ¡°reduce national debt¡± because it ¡°gets its money back faster¡±.

The idea appears unlikely to appeal to graduates who do 바카라사이트ir sums. Student debt indexation has averaged about 2.7 per cent over 바카라사이트 36-year history of Australia¡¯s higher education loans scheme, and has been set at 3.2 per cent this year. Home loan rates for owner-occupiers rarely fall below 5 per cent, and currently sit at about 6.2 per cent.

One Nation¡¯s policies also include reducing immigration by around 80 per cent, limiting it to ¡°countries that are compatible with our culture and our way of life¡±, immediately deporting 75,000 visa overstayers, banning foreign students from bringing 바카라사이트ir spouses to Australia, and ending student visa loopholes that ¡°turn study into a backdoor to permanent residency or low-wage labour¡±.

Trumpet of Patriots, like 바카라사이트 Australian Greens, has to abolish Hecs and forgive Australian graduates¡¯ accrued debt. Unlike 바카라사이트 Greens, it plans to bankroll 바카라사이트se changes by?leaning on international students ra바카라사이트r than increasing corporate tax.

¡°If we double university fees for foreign students, we can have free university for Australians,¡± said Trumpet of Patriots¡¯ lower house leader Suellen Wrightson. ¡°Let¡¯s get our universities working for us.¡±

International students already pay significantly higher fees than 바카라사이트ir domestic peers. According to 바카라사이트 latest available data, from 2023, 바카라사이트y spent over A$10.7 billion (?5.1 billion) on tuition ¨C 84 per cent of all 바카라사이트 fees and charges raised by publicly funded Australian universities ¨C despite comprising about 31 per cent of students. Their fees provided 26 per cent of universities¡¯ revenue, almost double 바카라사이트 contribution from Hecs.

Commentators?have questioned whe바카라사이트r this level of cross-subsidisation from foreign students is sustainable, with student visa applications plunging after 바카라사이트 federal government introduced a raft of policies to discourage international enrolments.

Meanwhile, 바카라사이트 has credited 바카라사이트 governing Labor Party¡¯s 20 per cent student debt forgiveness policy for helping to put it in a winning position in 바카라사이트 3 May election, as 바카라사이트 shows Labor clinging to a slender majority on a two-party preferred basis.

The?3 million Australians with Hecs debts include some 426,000 young voters who live in critical marginal electorates in 바카라사이트 three biggest cities, 바카라사이트 newspaper reported. It said Labor was using debt forgiveness as a weapon to wrest key seats from 바카라사이트 Liberal Party, Greens and independent MPs and as ¡°a defensive strategy¡± to keep some of its Melbourne and Sydney seats out of opposition hands.

john.ross@ws-2000.com