Press conference - Revesby

JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: It’s started. Today, 100,000 young Australians have got the best text message that they'll ever get. They've got a message telling them that their HECS debt has been cut by 20 per cent. And this week, another one and a half million Australians will get that same message. And the week after that, another one and a half million Australians will get that message too, telling them that their student debt has been cut by 20 per cent. 

This is the biggest cut in student debt in Australia ever. And you don't have to do a thing. You just got to wait for the ding. You've just got to wait for that text message or that email to tell you that your student debt has been cut by 20 per cent. 

Three million Australians over the next few weeks are going to get that message. It's going to mean for those 3 million Australians that their debt is cut on average by thousands and thousands of dollars. The average HECS debt today is about 27 grand. That means that the average cut is going to be about five and a half thousand dollars. That's a lot of weight off the backs of a lot of young Australians. 

Young Australians, like the people that I'm with right now, who are just out of uni or just out of TAFE. Maybe they're just out of home, they're renting or they've just bought a home. They're just getting started and this will help. 

There's something else that's happening in the next few weeks and that's the changes to social media laws. In just over two weeks time, the changes to restrict access to social media for young people under the age of 16 come into place. And this is a big deal. We're going to be the first country in the world to do this and these changes are going to need the support of the whole community. 

I know mums and dads are behind it, but I have written along with Anika Wells, the Minister for Communications, to every school in the country, to principals across the country. Those letters will arrive in schools this week, asking principals and teachers to help us to get the information out, to get the message out about this big change that's going to happen on the 10th of December. 

In a sense, we've got a live experiment that's happening right now. We banned mobile phones in schools a couple of years ago and the impact has been fantastic. Kids are more focused in the classroom, they're more focused on the teacher instead of looking at their phones, and they're having more fun in the playground. Instead of head down, doom scrolling in the playground, they're running around and playing with their mates. 

Some young people are telling their teachers they want to bring back music clubs, dance clubs, sporting clubs, because they're getting bored, because they've got nothing to do in the playground now their phones are gone. But when the bell rings at 3 o'clock, the phones are handed back. And if you drive past a bus stop after 3 o'clock around Australia, you'll see kids back on their phones, back sucked into the vortex of social media, sucked into the cesspit of social media. And every mum and dad in the country knows the negative impact that that can have on our kids. And that's why Anika and I have written schools across the country asking for their help to get the message out about what's happening in the next couple of weeks. 

We've also written to schools giving them a copy of the expert review into bullying. We know that bullying is different today to what it looked like when we were kids. When we were kids, bullying happened in the playground. Now, it could follow you the whole way home and people can bully you day and night and everyone can see it. Social media is a big part of that. Some of the worst bullying happens on Snapchat and TikTok. 

But even with the changes we're making to social media laws, bullying will still happen. There'll still be ways for young people to belittle and hurt and humiliate and harass other young people. That's why this plan is so important. That's why we've sent the plan to every school across the country in this letter, asking for their support in its implementation. Ministers have already agreed to it and we'll meet again in February to look at a detailed implementation plan that we can roll out in schools next year. 

So now, I might just ask some of the young people to tell us a little bit about what the 20 per cent cut to student debt means. 

KATHERINE HUDSON, STUDENT: Hi, my name's Catherine and I will have over $7,000 cut from my HECS debt as part of this initiative. What that means to me is that it inspired me to go on to study another degree and I'm currently studying towards a PhD in Business at the University of Technology, Sydney. It also means that I effectively have my mortgage payments paid for the next three months. So, I'm really thankful to have that weight of debt taken off my shoulders. 

SIUPELI HAUKOLOA-PAEA, DOCTOR: Hello, my name is Siupeli and I am a Torres Strait Islander Tongan man. I am a doctor at St Vincent's Hospital, and so the 20 per cent HECS will save me $12,000. I have a young family, so it'll help feed my family, put a roof over their heads. And I want to thank the Minister for that. So, thank you very much. 

DIRK HOARE, STUDENT: G'day. My Name's Dirk. I'm 23. I'm in my final year of studying Business. So, this 20 per cent HECS cut is going to save me about $9,000, which is quite a big deal. And I was speaking to my sister, who's also at uni at the dinner table last night, and it's really nice that we don't have to fill out a form or anything like that when just patiently waiting for that text message to come through. And with saving all that money that can go towards buying a new car or saving towards our first home. Or if we do well enough in the Ashes, I might see if I can buy a ticket if they're still available. We'll see how we go. 

TIM HUTTON, STUDENT: G'day. I'm Tim. I'm currently studying at UNSW doing City Planning. This 20 per cent HECS cut will save me about $7,000, which will really just help me save a bit of money. Maybe to make it easier to move out of home and just save up for a first home buyer's grant or something like that. 

JOURNALIST: Thank you and thanks to everyone that's there. I was just wondering if all of you have received the notification yet - this text message or email that the Minister mentioned? 

CLARE: Not yet. 

JOURNALIST: So when will everyone receive the message or email? Why is it happening in stages? 

CLARE: So this is a decision of the Australian Tax Office. They decide how they roll that out. They did some very small batches through the week just to test it and make sure that they've got their systems right and their systems in place. And so, the first big group of Australians to get their 20 per cent HECS cut happening right now - 100,000 young Australians. And then the tax office will do a big batch of one and a half million HECS debts later next week and then another one and a half million the week after that. So, over the space of the next two weeks, almost all Australians with a student debt will have their debt cut by 20 per cent. 

JOURNALIST: I am also seeking an update on the decorative sand asbestos in schools. Where is that, and are you happy with how the State and Territory Governments have been handling it over recent days and weeks? 

CLARE: The advice to all of us is that the risk is low, but State and Territory Governments, State and Territory Education Departments are taking action to remove the sand from schools. But not just schools, also from early education and care centres as well. 

As you know, there's also been an order by the ACCC to remove it from shops - places like Officeworks, Kmart and from Target. I understand this was also discussed by consumer affairs Ministers when they met yesterday and the responsible Minister, Andrew Leigh, will give an update on that over the next few days. 

JOURNALIST: You were talking about the social media ban before. It was reported earlier this week that the government was planning to use the ban as cover for not fully banning gambling ads on social media. Has the government given up on banning gambling ads on social media? 

CLARE: I think tying or tethering the two together is just absolutely wrong. What this is about is protecting our kids, giving our kids a chance to be kids, get more time off the iPad and more time on the field. More time in the sun, more time having a bit of fun, and helping our young people as they grow up not to get sort of thrown into the cesspit of social media so young. 

Every parent watching this knows the impact that it has on our kids. Every mum and dad who's ever yelled out to their child in the bedroom that's doom scrolling and not hearing what they're saying to them - calling out, saying, "come to the dinner table", knows exactly what I mean here. The impact is real. And social media is different today to what it was like even a couple of years ago. The algorithms are smarter. They tend to send people down a rabbit hole that they can't get out for hours. If you ask young people, they'll tell you this. And that's why we're doing this. That's why most parents will tell you it's the right thing to do. Is it going to be perfect? No, of course not. 

Is it going to make a difference? Absolutely. A little bit like setting a law that says that you can't drink alcohol until you're 18. There are some people who are going to get it and drink alcohol before they're 18. It doesn't mean you shouldn't have a law that says that you shouldn't drink alcohol until you're 18. It's the same thing here, saying that you shouldn't be accessing social media until you're 16. It changes the norm. It means for a lot of young kids, they don't feel like they have to be there because their mates are there, and that's the sort of difference that we hope to see. 

JOURNALIST: What about gambling harm, though? You didn't address that part of the question. Gambling does cause harm to a lot of people as well. Is your government still committed to taking further action on gambling advertising? 

CLARE: We've taken more action when it comes to problem gambling than any other Federal Government in Australian history. In terms of what next steps we would take, I'll refer that to the responsible Minister, Anika Wells. 

JOURNALIST: So, you've got nothing further to add about if you're expecting sort of any improvements--- 

CLARE: I'm the Minister for Education. I'll tell you what we're doing in our schools to help young people. But in that area, I'll leave that to the responsible minister. 

JOURNALIST: Another thing outside your portfolio but given you are standing up today [indistinct] discussed in Parliament this week. Is it correct that Labor's planning to drop the national interest exemption for fossil fuel projects to try and strike a deal with the Greens? How are those negotiations going with the Greens? Do you know? 

CLARE: Again, all of those negotiations are being led by Murray Watt, the responsible minister, the Minister for the Environment. I would just make the general point that this is good for business and it's good for the environment and it's good for housing, it's good for building more housing. 

And there's a chance here for the Opposition to be constructive rather than destructive. But I'm not holding my breath. I suspect there's net zero chance of the Liberal Party being constructive on this. They have a chance here. Do they want to be the party of Howard or do they want to be the party of Hanson? Really, do they want to be a party of the centre right or the far right? And if they want to be a party of the centre-right, a party of John Howard, then they should reach across the aisle and try and work constructively with the government. 

JOURNALIST: Are you still expecting that you'll be able to get a deal done this week? 

CLARE: Well, again, those negotiations are being led by another Minister, so I'd refer you to Murray. 

JOURNALIST: Okay, thank you. No worries. 

CLARE: Cheers. Thanks, guys.