Young people shouldn’t pay for their crisis! Education is a right!

Resistance: Young Socialist Alliance is adding its voice to young people around the country in condemning several proposals by the Federal Coalition government which shift the cost burden for education onto young people, instead of taxing the rich.

The proposal to lower the income at which the government can start to collect study loans from students comes after a Grattan Institute report found that a significant portion of students will never earn an income high enough to repay their debt.

Currently, university graduates start repaying their student loans when they start earning over $54,186. The proposal from the Federal government is to lower this repayment threshold to $42,000 which would increase the number of people repaying the debt by 50%.

In addition to this there has also been a proposition from Prime Minister Turnbull that the Federal government may consider ending funding for public schools, re-allocating this burden to state governments, while maintaining federal funding for the private school system.

Resistance: Young Socialist Alliance co-convener Sarah Hathway slammed the proposals, saying “This is yet another attack on students this time at the primary and tertiary sector as it is students who will ultimately be disadvantaged by this change in funding.

“These attacks are an attempt by the government to shift the cost of education onto the backs of ordinary people, endangering their living standards and future prospects of young working class people in the process.

“Resistance rejects these attacks on students. Young people should not have to pay for their crisis! Education is a fundamental human right and should be accessible for all. We need to tax the rich to fund free education.”