After 12 years of hard work, students in western Sydney are finding out what their future holds as the offers from universities are being made this month, western Sydney based Senator Marise Payne said today.

Instead of celebrating, many students are still wondering if they can even attend university this year because the Rudd Labor Government axed debate in Parliament on its Youth Allowance last year.

“Students have been left in the lurch, wondering what kind of student income support they might receive in 2010” Senator Payne said. 

In spite of the fact that the Coalition supported the bulk of proposed changes to the Youth Allowance, including changes to the parental income thresholds, Minister Gillard refused to address the Coalition’s concerns with the cuts to the ‘gap year’ for young people who must leave home to attend University.   

“The cuts would have meant that some students who in good faith committed a year to earning enough money to qualify for youth allowance, would have not been eligible to receive independent youth allowance having worked that year,” Senator Payne said. 

The Coalition is fundamentally opposed to retrospective changes to legislation, as in this case it would have punished those young people for trying to do the right thing, particularly those from rural Australia, who were following the rules that were in place at the time, effectively pulling the rug out from under their feet.

What is also distressing for students is that Julia Gillard also decided to abolish Commonwealth scholarships without having an alternative in place.

“We are now faced with the outrageous situation where there are no Commonwealth relocation allowances and no scholarships for students to apply for, upon acceptance of their university place over the next few weeks,” Senator Payne said. 

“So what does this mean for students now?   The current arrangements and rules for Youth Allowance remain in place, but both students and parents are entitled to be concerned given they don’t know what to expect from the Rudd Government this year.

“We sincerely hope that when Parliament resumes, Julia Gillard finally puts the needs of students first and takes responsibility for this mess. 

“Australia deserves better than a part-time Minister who leaves University students in the lurch,” Senator Payne said.