The Coalition has acted in this first week of Parliament to have the unfair Independent Youth Allowance criteria changed so that students in Inner Regional areas can again qualify for the payment.
Under the current rules introduced by Prime Minister Julia Gillard students in towns such as Ararat, Hamilton, Port Fairy and Warrnambool are unable to qualify for the support payment.
I spoke with the Shadow Minister for Education, Mr Christopher Pyne the day after the Government was decided about the Coalition putting forward a Notice of Motion and I applaud him for moving so quickly.
The motion put forward by the Coalition requires that the Government “introduce legislation to reinstate the former workplace participation criteria for independent Youth Allowance to apply to students whose family home is located in inner regional areas…”.
This motion should be supported by the two key independents, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, whose rural and regional electorates have also been disadvantaged by Julia Gillard’s changes.
The independents backed Julia Gillard even though her Government’s policies are hurting rural and regional Australia. I would hope that they do the right thing by rural and regional Australia this time.
This is the first step in the Coalition’s plan to push for a review into funding for rural and regional tertiary students and overcome the disadvantage they face, when compared with city students, in gaining tertiary qualifications.
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