Greens promise to SCRAP all student loan debt for Australians if the party holds balance of power

The Greens are promising to scrap all student loan debts if the party is able to secure the balance of power at the federal election.

That would mean all Aussies with student loan debt would not be required to pay it back.

The Greens have held the policy for a while but education spokesperson Mehreen Faruqi will be spruiking it in media appearances on Thursday.

‘Student debt should not be an added burden on people who are already struggling, especially after the impacts of the pandemic,’ she said.

‘Many current MPs, including the Prime Minister, went to university when it was free, but now students are being saddled with tens of thousands of dollars in study debt that often takes decades to repay.’ 

In 2020-21, the average student debt in Australia was $23,685. The total value of HELP debt in 2020 was $66.6billion. 

The Greens want to make childcare, school and university free.

They will pay for their measures by increasing Australia’s public debt and levying new taxes on the wealthy and big business. 

The Greens have proposed a billionaires’ tax which takes 6 per cent of wealth from anyone with a net worth of more than $1billion. 

They also want a Corporate Super-Profits Tax, which applies a 40 per cent tax to companies with revenue over $100million a year.

University was free in Australia from 1974 but fees were re-introduced in the mid 1980s. 

The Greens hold only one seat in the House of Representatives but are targeting more at the May election.