The Labor government is waging class war—and students are the latest to come under attack. The Albanese government has decided to maintain the system of indexation of university student loans, whereby the value of student debt rises with inflation, forcing thousands of dollars’ of extra debt onto 3 million university graduates. With inflation through the roof, the amount that those with HECS/HELP debts are expected to repay increased last year by the highest amount in a decade and is set to rise even further when indexation takes place at the start of June. 

This is another blow to students and young workers during a cost-of-living crisis that is already driving down living standards. Labor’s decision to oppose a push by the Greens to end indexation will mean forcing an extra $1,700 of debt onto the average HECS loan holder, according to the Guardian Australia. 

Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi introduced a bill last year to freeze the $74 billion in student debt and increase the repayment threshold. A Labor-chaired Senate inquiry rejected the proposal just weeks out from the date of indexation. 

Treasurer Jim Chalmers recently told a Brisbane press conference: “This indexation that happens around the middle of the year, every year, happens regardless of who is in office”. But the status quo is not an unalterable fact—the government has the power to change this legislation, just as it has the power to increase Centrelink payments yet refuses to do so. The Labor government is instead spending billions on tax cuts for the wealthy and nuclear submarines. 

Higher education is an essential service for Australian politicians and bosses, but one they would prefer we foot the bill for. Universities produce graduates whose skills are required to keep industry running smoothly—a 2016 report from Universities Australia boasted that each graduate entering the workforce boosts national GDP by $124,450. Universities also pump out research to improve productivity and service Australia’s “national interest”. Catriona Jackson, the chief executive of Universities Australia, flew to Washington in April to participate in talks about how the sector could assist the AUKUS military alliance. 

Domestic and international students are paying more for their degrees than ever before, while the proportion of fees covered by the government continues to fall. This trend has had bipartisan support in Australia for decades, and the new Labor government is continuing along the well-established route of forcing the costs onto students. 

Labor’s determination to make workers pay for the cost-of-living crisis means that the push by the Greens to reduce student debt, like similar pushes for solutions to the housing crisis, won’t easily be won in parliament. It will take a serious fight against Labor to win the sort of measures that could improve the lives of workers and students in this country—it’s a fight which will have to be built on the streets.