AMANDA KELLER, HOST: Well, the Prime Minister has announced – it’s quite extraordinary – to establish Fee-Free TAFE as an enduring feature of our education and training system. And from July 1 next year, the Government will reduce the amount Australians with student debt have to repay per year and raise the threshold at which they have to start repaying. This is big news for students with a HECS debt. Prime Minister, good morning.

PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. Good to be with you.

SABRA LANE, HOST: Mr. Albanese, thanks for talking to AM.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good to be with you again, Sabra.

LANE: You respect independent economist Chris Richardson?

PRIME MINISTER: I do indeed.

LANE He says the government's announcement on wiping student debt is not smart policy and fails the fairness test, pointing out that those who don't go to university end up earning a third less than those who go to uni in their lifetime. Why is that fair?

I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging.

Two and a half years ago, my colleagues and I asked the people of Australia to trust us with the honour of serving as their Government and to join us in the task of building a better future.

We came to office knowing this was a time of serious and urgent challenges.

Global economic uncertainty.

A worldwide surge in inflation and energy prices.

And Australia’s relationships with our region under strain.

The Albanese Labor Government will introduce legislation to establish Fee-Free TAFE as an enduring feature of the national vocational education and training system, funding 100,000 Fee-Free TAFE places a year from 2027.

This builds on the Albanese Government partnership with states and territories to deliver 180,000 Fee-Free TAFE places in 2023; 300,000 places over three years from 2024; and agreements being finalised for a further 20,000 construction and housing Fee-Free places.

The Albanese Labor Government will cut a further 20 per cent off all student loan debts, wiping around $16 billion in student debt for around three million Australians.

By 1 June next year, the Government will cut 20 per cent off all student loans to reduce the debt burden for Australians with a student loan. 

This will cut around $16 billion in debt, including all HELP, VET Student Loan, Australian Apprenticeship Support Loan and other income-contingent student support loan accounts that exist on 1 June next year.

The Albanese Labor Government will raise the minimum repayment threshold for student loans and cut repayment rates to make the repayment system fairer for all Australians with a student debt – around 3 million people.

From 1 July next year, the Government will reduce the amount Australians with a student debt have to repay per year and raise the threshold when people need to start repaying.

The reforms will apply to everyone who has a student debt, including all HELP, VET Student Loan, Australian Apprenticeship Support Loan and other student support loans.

SHARON CLAYDON, MEMBER FOR NEWCASTLE: It is such an exciting day to be welcoming both the Prime Minister of Australia, the New South Wales Premier, our respective Ministers of TAFE and Skills from the Federal and State. All of my Hunter colleagues are present here – both State and Federal – because we all know just how important it is to be having, to be hosting a TAFE Centre of Excellence around net zero manufacturing here in the Newcastle-Hunter region. We've got a lot at stake.

The Albanese Labor Government is backing home-grown innovation, regional jobs and a Future Made in Australia – with the country’s first commercial Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) heat plant to be built in Victoria.

The development of the plant at the Mars Petcare facility in Wodonga will be backed by more than $17 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

This project will secure jobs in the region, reduce emissions through clean, renewable energy and show what’s possible for the future of manufacturing in Australia.

Australia was one of the most successful nations in its pandemic response, but an investigation by the independent COVID-19 Response Inquiry finds the country was not adequately prepared for a pandemic.

The Inquiry is a reminder of the incredible service and sacrifice of so many people, not just frontline workers, but every single person in Australia.

It was a time of great uncertainty and adversity. Thousands of Australians lost their lives. Borders were closed. Australians were asked to stay in their homes.

The Albanese and Minns Labor Governments are jointly investing more than $60 million over five years to establish the Hunter Net Zero Manufacturing Centre of Excellence at TAFE NSW’s Tighes Hill campus in Newcastle.

Both the Albanese Government and Minns Labor Governments are investing $28.1 million, with a further $5.27 million in federal funding to support the centre.

This will accelerate the development of a Higher Apprenticeship model focused on the advanced skills required for net zero manufacturing.