Two nights ago the Coalition and Senator Fielding blocked proposed legislation that would have increased income for tertiary students while making it harder for students to qualify for any payments at all.

Julia Gillard’s office put together a press release lamenting the loss of income support increases at the hands of the greedy and politically motivated Coalition and Family First parties. Barely 18 hours later the National Union of Students President David Barrows released a response stating that the NUS was “absolutely shocked that Senator Fielding did not pass this measure”, before going on to decry the failure of so many positive changes in the legislation.

Given that the last time I saw David Barrows he was screaming orders at student campaigners and apparently hosing people down with his temper, it doesn’t surprise me that he’s ignoring some very good reasons against this legislation.

While the Coalition is yet to make an official announcement, Senator Fielding’s reasons for blocking the bill come down to the implications these changes would have for Rural and Regional students. The proposed legislation would change the requirements for a person to be considered independent (and therefore eligible for Youth Allowance) to be increased from earning $19k in eighteen months to working unbroken 30 hour weeks for eighteen months in a two year period.

If this legislation was designed to counter people abusing the Youth Allowance system, it’s one of the harshest and least humane attempts I’ve heard of. The going rhetoric is that rich students are using Youth Allowance payments to pay for Gap Year trips around the world. I can’t think of a bigger load of bullshit; if this is happening it’s because Centrelink, as usual, is incompetent, not because the entry requirements are too low.

I’m irked by Dave Barrow’s comment that “a system that gets the poorest students to university [has been] blocked.” Seriously David? You’re calling a system that either keeps people out of education for two years or forces them to rely on their parents during their tertiary education “a system that gets the poorest students” into University? If this had been the system when I was coming into university the first time I couldn’t have afforded it. The poorest families can’t afford to support their children’s tertiary educations, and now the NUS advocating a system that will keep them uneducated for at least 18 months while they work their arses off just to qualify for support that is still only going to be half the poverty line? Why didn’t they even mention the increased restrictions on eligibility?

I’m all for any changes to the Youth Allowance System that increase the level of income support for students. Unfortunately this isn’t one of them. The larger numbers going into students’ pockets are coming at the expensive of how many students are being supported.

I knew there was somethign fishy about Gillard’s press release. Please comment, I’d like to get a better look at this situation.

Coming back to the blogosphere has always been temporarily exciting and permanently depressing. One cannot dig beneath the surface of situational politics without soon hitting pants-wettingly upsetting bedrock.

I’m currenly looking at a press release from Jullia Gillard’s office regarding the Coalition and Senator Fielding’s refusal to pass increases to student income support. Kat Henderson, student activist and next years QUT Student Guild president sent me the release and attached a request that we spread the word that people need to contact those involved and make something happen. Given the extremely limited sitting days left in parliament this year, I jumped to it and spread the word.

Still, my bullshit detectors are screaming at me that something is wrong here.

Obviously I’m in favour of said increases both because I’m a student and because I think it’s economically sound (vis. automatic stabilisers – look it up). I would love to demonise anyone that gets in the way of accessible education. I know that Fielding’s votes are tied directly to punishing or rewarding whoever backs his own policy agenda and that the Liberals’ economic politics are very unfriendly to students. All this considered though, the press release wreaks of spin and I can’t help but think that there’s something in the proposed legislation that would have sucked for students.

Here’s what I’m going to do:

• Google it; the media and blogosphere may shed light on the right questions to ask more reliable sources.
• Check the Lib’s and Fielding’s websites for press releases about the bill, maybe they have reasons.
• Contact Minchin’s and Fielding’s offices for the official spiel.
• Put those three together, form an initial hypothesis and then start speaking to people working in politics.
• Blog it.

I don’t expect this process will take longer than a few hours. Stay tuned.