September 14, 2011
The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester will continue to fight for a better deal for regional students after the Federal Government announced its decision to abolish the discriminatory ‘inner’ regional classification for accessing Youth Allowance.
Mr Chester has described the changes as “a small win for Gippsland students and their families” but stressed the need for a complete overhaul of the system of student income support.
Under the changes, students living in Gippsland towns such as Sale, Yarram, Traralgon and Morwell will finally be treated the same as students living in Bairnsdale, Lakes Entrance and Orbost.
“This is a win for Gippsland families who have supported me and fought hard to force the government to change its current rules which discriminated against regional students on the basis of lines on a map,” Mr Chester said.
“However, the system is still flawed and the changes don’t go far enough. If the Gillard Government hadn’t have been so arrogant and had listened to regional MPs, students and their families, this mess wouldn’t have been created in the first place.
“It shouldn’t be this hard to get a fair go and I will be continuing the fight on behalf of regional students and their families.”
Mr Chester said his main concern was ‘inner regional’ students who graduated at the end of 2009 and 2010 and applied for income support under the previous rules.
“The government’s back-flip has come far too late for those ‘inner regional’ students who have graduated over the past two years,” Mr Chester said.
“I’m very concerned that these students have been discriminated against since Julia Gillard, as Education Minister, made changes to the student income support system in May 2009.
“Now that she is Prime Minister, it is up to Ms Gillard to fix the mess and completely overhaul the system of student income support.”
Mr Chester said The Nationals plan to support regional students was a better way forward.
“The Nationals recognise the fact that students from regional areas forced to move away from home face significant additional costs,” Mr Chester said.
“Our plan for a Tertiary Access Allowance addresses the issue of inequity. It levels the playing field so that all regional students who are forced to relocate to undertake university studies receive support for accommodation and living away from home costs.
“The Nationals want regional students to have the option to go on to tertiary studies and come back to our communities and fill the skill shortages that exist in areas such as engineering, health and law.”