The Labor Party policy to cut student debts by 20% was promoted during the election campaign as a plan to “build a better and fairer education system” but it was industrial-scale vote buying which disproportionately benefited city families. The policy was dreamt up last November when Prime Minister Albanese was tanking in the polls… the Labor Party decided to spend $16 billion to buy votes rather than improve access to university for under-represented groups or invest in regional university campuses. Data from the Parliamentary Library indicates the average number of people who stood to benefit by the scheme in seats that were held by the Nationals in rural and regional Australia in the lead-up to the election was 13,384. However, in the seats held by the Greens in the city, which were the key targets for the Labor Party going into this election, the average number of people who stood to benefit was 32,288. There are two and a half times the number of beneficiaries in those inner city seats. Just imagine if just some of that $16 billion went to address the barriers which exist for rural and regional students seeking to access a university degree. At least some of the money poured into buying votes in the city, should have been quarantined to fix the Youth Allowance system which still makes it harder for families in regional areas to support their children at university. We should also be investing more in regional campuses to reduce the need to relocate in the first place. #lovegippsland