More than three million Australians will have their student debt wiped in a bid to win over younger voters crushed by the cost of living crisis.
Education Minister Jason Clare on Sunday announced the government would cap the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) indexation rate, eliminating about $3 billion of student debt.
The capped rate would ensure indexation matched either the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or Wage Price Index (WPI) – whichever was lower – after Australians were slugged a student debt increase of 7.1 per cent in 2023.
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The record increase was based on CPI, whereas under WPI, the debt spike would have only been 3.2 per cent.
The government said it would backdate the change -…