❓ Question regarding the WA student assistance payment and its impact on families, followed by a defensive answer from the Minister highlighting opposition criticism and defending the program's design and universality.
AnsweredQoN 165Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STUDENT ASSISTANCE PAYMENT
165. Mr S.N. AUBREY to the Minister for Education:
I
refer to the Cook Labor government's commitment to supporting Western Australian
families facing cost-of-living pressures.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house how the new Western Australian student assistance
payment will support all WA students and families, regardless of their financial
circumstances?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house whether he is aware of anyone who does not support
the delivery of this important payment to WA parents and carers?
165. Mr S.N. AUBREY to the Minister for Education:
I
refer to the Cook Labor government's commitment to supporting Western Australian
families facing cost-of-living pressures.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house how the new Western Australian student assistance
payment will support all WA students and families, regardless of their financial
circumstances?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house whether he is aware of anyone who does not support
the delivery of this important payment to WA parents and carers?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) Thank
you, Madam Speaker. In recognition of your 30 years of outstanding service to
the Parliament and the people of Western Australia, I will try to keep my
answer brief, but it will be difficult.
The SPEAKER : All right. The
clock is on!
Dr A.D. BUTI : I thank the
member for Scarborough for his question and for his support and recognition of
this outstanding announcement that the Premier and I made on Sunday. As the
Premier has outlined, this WA student assistance payment will benefit every
single household in Western Australia that has a child from kindergarten to
year 12. It is an outstanding announcement. As was briefly outlined by the
Premier, we will be encouraging people to use the ServiceWA app to apply.
Applications can be made from the first day of the second term. It should take roughly seven to eight days for the application to
be processed and for the money to be deposited in the bank account . It
will be a payment of $150 for students in kindergarten to the end of primary
school and $250 for secondary school students.
It is interesting that within hours
of this announcement being made, the member for Roe, as is his way, was
negative. He is reported as saying —
''Families have already told
me the application process for this funding is burdensome. It was a strange
decision to gatekeep this funding behind the clunky and unhelpful ServiceWA
app.
He said that people have started complaining to him about it.
How could they have started complaining to the member when the application
process will not start until 15 April? Within hours of us making this decision,
did the member have people ringing him up to complain about the application
process? I do not know whether there is much
credibility behind that, member for Roe. If the member is going to criticise
something, he has to have some credibility, and there was none.
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Dr A.D. BUTI : There was no
credibility behind that statement. He knows that was not true, so he should not
peddle falsehoods. No-one approached the member to complain. If anyone
approached him, they would have said, ''Isn't it fantastic that
I am able to use this money in the second term!'' But the Leader of the
Opposition says that it should have been
done before the school year. Does the member know that there are summer and
winter uniforms ? School camps and school balls also take place. There
are other expenses. All the expenses are not paid on day one; they go
throughout the year. I think this money will be very well received, but by all
means, if the member wants to criticise it, he should go out and criticise it
and see how successful he is with his criticism. Is the Leader of the
Opposition going to criticise this decision?
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
Dr A.D. BUTI : He is going to
criticise it! He does not think that people will benefit from this.
Point of Order
Mr P.J. RUNDLE : Once again,
the minister is asking rhetorical questions and is well on his way to another
of the lengthiest answers in question time.
The SPEAKER : I am not
upholding that as a point of order.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Dr A.D. BUTI : We have also
had criticism from the Leader of the Liberal Party that it should have been
means tested. In an exchange earlier today with the Deputy Premier; Treasurer,
the Leader of the Liberal Party complained that
we will not be means testing this payment, which has been targeted to
households with school students. She said that we should have frozen household
charges. When I asked her whether that was means tested, she said, ''No,
but it's targeted.'' I asked her who it is targeted to, and she
said it is targeted to the households of Western Australia. That is okay! There
should be no means testing for that, and charges should be frozen for every
household in WA. But because we are providing a targeted payment for families
who have students at school, that is no good. That is amazing! Her logic really
leaves a lot to be desired, particularly when she stated on 31 January this
year —
''At a time where the Cook
Labor Government is enjoying the largest boom in the State's history,
it's inexcusable that increasing pressure is being put on schools
because struggling Western Australians have not received meaningful cost of
living support.''
Ms L. Mettam interjected.
Dr A.D. BUTI : Are you not
supporting this?
Ms L. Mettam : We have
continually supported cost-of-living support.
Dr A.D. BUTI : You would be
supporting this, then, would you not? It is a joke. It is a real joke when —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members may
recall your opening remarks, minister.
Dr A.D. BUTI : That is a good
point. But it is a joke when the members of the Nationals WA, also known as the
secular agrarian socialist party of Western Australia, who have never had any
fiscal responsibility in their lives and do not know how to balance the books,
talk about means testing. All they want to do is spend money and they do not
care whether the books are balanced. For them to talk about means testing
really is an absolute joke.
I will finish on this, Speaker, in
honour of your thirtieth anniversary. What I want to know from the opposition
is: should families in Mandurah or Midland miss out? Should families in
Karrinyup or Kalgoorlie miss out? Should families in Busselton or Bunbury miss
out? Should families in Esperance or Katanning miss out, member for Roe? He should
tell us, if he is going to criticise, who should miss out. This is an
outstanding decision, as the Davies family said on Sunday, in the email
response that the Premier read out. Families support this because this is a major
cost-of-living measure in regard to the expenses that students and their
families have to cover.
you, Madam Speaker. In recognition of your 30 years of outstanding service to
the Parliament and the people of Western Australia, I will try to keep my
answer brief, but it will be difficult.
The SPEAKER : All right. The
clock is on!
Dr A.D. BUTI : I thank the
member for Scarborough for his question and for his support and recognition of
this outstanding announcement that the Premier and I made on Sunday. As the
Premier has outlined, this WA student assistance payment will benefit every
single household in Western Australia that has a child from kindergarten to
year 12. It is an outstanding announcement. As was briefly outlined by the
Premier, we will be encouraging people to use the ServiceWA app to apply.
Applications can be made from the first day of the second term. It should take roughly seven to eight days for the application to
be processed and for the money to be deposited in the bank account . It
will be a payment of $150 for students in kindergarten to the end of primary
school and $250 for secondary school students.
It is interesting that within hours
of this announcement being made, the member for Roe, as is his way, was
negative. He is reported as saying —
''Families have already told
me the application process for this funding is burdensome. It was a strange
decision to gatekeep this funding behind the clunky and unhelpful ServiceWA
app.
He said that people have started complaining to him about it.
How could they have started complaining to the member when the application
process will not start until 15 April? Within hours of us making this decision,
did the member have people ringing him up to complain about the application
process? I do not know whether there is much
credibility behind that, member for Roe. If the member is going to criticise
something, he has to have some credibility, and there was none.
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Dr A.D. BUTI : There was no
credibility behind that statement. He knows that was not true, so he should not
peddle falsehoods. No-one approached the member to complain. If anyone
approached him, they would have said, ''Isn't it fantastic that
I am able to use this money in the second term!'' But the Leader of the
Opposition says that it should have been
done before the school year. Does the member know that there are summer and
winter uniforms ? School camps and school balls also take place. There
are other expenses. All the expenses are not paid on day one; they go
throughout the year. I think this money will be very well received, but by all
means, if the member wants to criticise it, he should go out and criticise it
and see how successful he is with his criticism. Is the Leader of the
Opposition going to criticise this decision?
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
Dr A.D. BUTI : He is going to
criticise it! He does not think that people will benefit from this.
Point of Order
Mr P.J. RUNDLE : Once again,
the minister is asking rhetorical questions and is well on his way to another
of the lengthiest answers in question time.
The SPEAKER : I am not
upholding that as a point of order.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Dr A.D. BUTI : We have also
had criticism from the Leader of the Liberal Party that it should have been
means tested. In an exchange earlier today with the Deputy Premier; Treasurer,
the Leader of the Liberal Party complained that
we will not be means testing this payment, which has been targeted to
households with school students. She said that we should have frozen household
charges. When I asked her whether that was means tested, she said, ''No,
but it's targeted.'' I asked her who it is targeted to, and she
said it is targeted to the households of Western Australia. That is okay! There
should be no means testing for that, and charges should be frozen for every
household in WA. But because we are providing a targeted payment for families
who have students at school, that is no good. That is amazing! Her logic really
leaves a lot to be desired, particularly when she stated on 31 January this
year —
''At a time where the Cook
Labor Government is enjoying the largest boom in the State's history,
it's inexcusable that increasing pressure is being put on schools
because struggling Western Australians have not received meaningful cost of
living support.''
Ms L. Mettam interjected.
Dr A.D. BUTI : Are you not
supporting this?
Ms L. Mettam : We have
continually supported cost-of-living support.
Dr A.D. BUTI : You would be
supporting this, then, would you not? It is a joke. It is a real joke when —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members may
recall your opening remarks, minister.
Dr A.D. BUTI : That is a good
point. But it is a joke when the members of the Nationals WA, also known as the
secular agrarian socialist party of Western Australia, who have never had any
fiscal responsibility in their lives and do not know how to balance the books,
talk about means testing. All they want to do is spend money and they do not
care whether the books are balanced. For them to talk about means testing
really is an absolute joke.
I will finish on this, Speaker, in
honour of your thirtieth anniversary. What I want to know from the opposition
is: should families in Mandurah or Midland miss out? Should families in
Karrinyup or Kalgoorlie miss out? Should families in Busselton or Bunbury miss
out? Should families in Esperance or Katanning miss out, member for Roe? He should
tell us, if he is going to criticise, who should miss out. This is an
outstanding decision, as the Davies family said on Sunday, in the email
response that the Premier read out. Families support this because this is a major
cost-of-living measure in regard to the expenses that students and their
families have to cover.
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