When the Australian Labor Party won the 2022 Federal Election, students across the country might have felt a sense of hope. After a decade of anti-student Liberal policies, the political slogan of “no one left behind” seemed to beckon in a new dawn of progressive politics in Australia. Last week, however, the release of the Federal Budget shattered those hopes. Once again, students and other vulnerable communities were indeed left behind. 

In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, a housing crisis, a rental crisis, a mental health crisis, and a climate crisis, the Government has continued the culture of failure in Australian politics when it comes to meaningfully helping students and young people. To prove this point, the Labor Party announced a budget surplus assisted by its decision to push through the 7% indexation hike of student debt. The Labor party has also done nothing to prevent the Stage Three Tax Cuts allowing wealthier Australians to pocket an extra $25 a day whilst people on JobSeeker were granted a mere increase of $2.85 per day far below the current levels of inflation. Still there is no freeze on rent hikes, no truly substantial attempt to build an adequate quantity of social and affordable housing, and nothing that holds the major climate destroying corporations accountable for their actions other than a set of tax reforms to their liking. 

This Federal budget has proven not to be for students, young people, and the most vulnerable in the community. Rather than fulfilling their slogan of “no one left behind”, the Australian Labor Party has merely proven that they are not the progressive beacon of hope that we all so desperately need right now. UMSU calls on the government to deliver a budget that directly and meaningfully helps students and vulnerable communities. 

UMSU President
Hiba Adam