“Where is the Bill Minister?  If Julia Gillard was serious about getting her ‘urgent’ Youth Allowance bill through the Senate then wouldn’t it be a smart thing to do to have it brought back to the Senate?” Senator Nash said.

“The truth is, it is the Minister ‘For Too Many Things’ who is keeping students in limbo because her ‘urgent’ Bill still hasn’t come back to the Senate for scrutiny. 

“The last time I checked Labor were the government, and it is the government that sets its priorities for debate.”

“Minister Gillard is ‘spinning’ out of control and deliberately misleading and confusing the youth allowance debate.

“The Minister wants to axe the benefits that have made it possible for students from rural and regional Australia to go to university through the independent youth allowance provisions.”

The Nationals in Coalition will not stand idly by as Labor seek to deny students from rural and regional Australia the opportunity to go on to university education.

“The Coalition will move to split the Bill into a Scholarships Bill and a Youth Allowance reform Bill to break the deadlock, and get the scholarships flowing to students as soon as possible, while negotiating a better outcome for students on the independent youth allowance.

“If the Minister ‘For Too Many Things’ Julia Gillard and Rudd Labor truly want to help students gain access to scholarship funding this year they should stop playing political football with students livelihoods,” said Senator Nash.