By Rowan Holzberger
MOST Australians instinctively understand the value of a good education.
A trade certificate, a TAFE diploma, a university degree. It’s the ticket to a better life. But with cost-of-living pressures and student debts piling up, that ticket has started to feel more like a millstone than a launchpad.
That’s why the Albanese Labor Government’s 20% cut to student debt matters so much.
It’s practical. It’s fair. And, crucially, it’s a promise kept. In Forde alone, around 23,000 people will see the benefit – young Australians trying to get their start, and older graduates still chipping away at student debt decades later.
This isn’t a hand-out. It’s smart policy. It lets people get on with life: buy a home, start a family, open a business, live without the crushing drag of debt. And in doing so, it gives the economy a real kick.
Less debt means more spending and investing. More spending and investing means stronger jobs and stronger growth. That’s how you build a country.
For too long, higher education has been treated as a cost to be cut rather than an investment to be nurtured. That old thinking left too many Australians saddled with bills before they’d even begun their careers. Labor’s plan flips the script. It recognises that education builds a stronger nation and a fairer society- and it backs words with action.
It’s also about trust. The government made a promise and is now delivering it, right up front as its first piece of legislation this term. In an era of political cynicism, that matters.
There’s still more to do, no one pretends otherwise, but this move is a clear sign of direction. It says to Australians: we’re backing you, we’re backing your future, and we’re backing the skills and ideas that will drive our country forward.
Education isn’t a luxury. It’s the engine of a prosperous, innovative and confident Australia. Cutting student debt isn’t charity. It’s nation-building.
And if we want to build a better future, investing in people – not punishing them with debt – is the way to get there.
