Three million Australians will have their student debt slashed as Labor passed the highly anticipated legislation through parliament.
As promised to voters, the Albanese government introduced the HECS debt bill to cut 20 per cent from existing university and TAFE debts as its first order of business last week.
It passed the Senate on Thursday morning, 36 votes to three. Crossbenchers David Pocock, Fatima Payman, and Tammy Tyrrell all voted with the government and the Greens.
Education Minister Jason Clare said the average $5,500 that Australians would save is a “big deal”.
“That’s a lot of weight off their back, and it will help a lot of young people that might be just out of uni, just out of home, just getting started,” he told reporters…