Senator Fiona Nash

LETTER TO EDITOR - The truth about Oakeshott's voting record on youth allowance

Dear Editor,

I write in reply to the letter `A grade for MP for Youth Allowance’ that ran in your paper on Wednesday 21 September 2011, regarding the Independent Member for Lyne’s action on independent youth allowance.

Mr Oakeshott may claim to have represented the concerns of regional students in his electorate struggling to access the allowance under the unreasonable 30 hour a week work rule introduced by the Labor government.

However, his voting record in parliament may disappoint your readers.

• A Coalition Notice of Motion in the House of Representatives last October to make independent youth allowance fair for inner regional students by immediately reinstating the same, fair criteria that applied to other regional students – supported by Mr Oakeshott
• The Coalition’s Social Security Amendment (Income Support for Regional Students) Bill 2010 in the House of Representative in February this year that sought to immediately reinstate the same, fair criteria that applied to other regional students. Mr Oakeshott originally seconded a Greens amendment that the bill proceed when Parliament agreed to a method to finance the measures, but when the pressure was applied by the Prime Minister he voted against it. Debate on the bill was subsequently disallowed.
• An amendment to Appropriations legislation in the House of Representatives in early March, again to reinstate the same, fair criteria for `inner regional’ students from July 1 2011, immediately after the review into student income support reforms rather than waiting until next year – defeated by Labor with Mr Oakeshott’s support
• A similar amendment to Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Australia legislation later in March – defeated by Labor with Mr Oakeshott’s support
• A similar Notice of Motion in the House of Representative in June this year – again defeated by Labor with Mr Oakeshott’s support.

Mr Oakeshott welcomed the Gillard government’s decision last week to fix the independent youth allowance matter, which the Coalition, with regional students, have been demanding all along. The government’s backflip will cost $265 million.

Had Mr Oakeshott supported the Coalition, and truly stuck up for regional students, the problem could have been fixed a lot sooner.

Yours sincerely,

Senator Fiona Nash

Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Education