SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday that his government planned to cut student loans for around three million Australians by 20%, wiping around A$16 billion ($10.49 billion) in debts.
The move builds on May’s budget which attacked cost of living pressures in Australia and gave debt relief for students, as well as more investment to make medicines cheaper, and a boost to a rent assistance programme.
“This will help everyone with a student debt right now, whilst we work hard to deliver a better deal for every student in the years ahead,” Albanese said in a statement announcing the cut to student loans for tertiary education.
The changes would mean the average graduate with a loan of A$27,600 would have A$5,520 wiped, the government said.
The government said it already planned to cut the amount that Australians with a student debt have to repay per year and raise the threshold to start repayments.
Cost of living pressures, stoked by stubbornly high inflation, have a special resonance with a federal election looming and the centre-left Labor government now polling behind their conservative opponents.
($1 = 1.5246 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Sam McKeith; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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