$7 Billion Debt Pays for Lower Taxes on Wealthy

$7 Billion Debt Pays for Lower Taxes on the Wealthy

The milestone of $7 billion in student debt is to be reached today.

This figure is a staggering indictment of the Labour government which is allowing its baby boomer generation to steal from the emerging generation.

Heavy debt is being piled onto our young people to pay for economic policies which have transferred wealth to wealthy New Zealanders and foreigners over the past 20 years.

Fully government funded tertiary education would have been possible from the profits alone of a single state enterprise which was privatised in 1990 – just as Labour and National governments were increasing student fees for tertiary education.

Since that time more than $12 billion in profit has been removed from New Zealand by the foreign owners of Telecom. This money alone would have fully funded tertiary education over the past decade.

This huge tail of student debt is now wagging the tertiary education dog and young New Zealanders are paying the price.

It is incredulous for Tertiary Education Minister Steve Maharey to say that “the student loan scheme is successful in allowing more young people into tertiary education”. The precise opposite is the case.

Labour has the opportunity to return to fully funded tertiary education with a $5.6 billion budget surplus last year and the upcoming budget is the opportunity to set the ground for this to be achieved.

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