Greens Deputy Leader and spokesperson for Higher Education and Anti-Racism, Senator Faruqi, has responded to last night's federal budget, which failed to scrap the JRG fee hikes and funding cuts. There is no funding for the National Anti-Racism Framework, which has now been sitting on government shelves for over 18 months.
As stated by Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens and spokesperson for Higher Education & Anti-Racism:
"Albanese and Chalmers say that they are standing up for young people, but their failure to reverse the disastrous job-ready graduates fee hikes and funding cuts tells a different story.
"This Labor government has kept in place the Liberal's uni fee hikes for four years now, driving the cost of arts degrees above fifty thousand dollars and fuelling inequality. The JRG now belongs to Albanese.
"Labor is content letting the top end of town carry on making obscene profits, while loading students up with insurmountable debt amidst a cost of living and housing crisis.
"After eighteen months of silence and inaction, the budget was Labor's chance to finally fund and implement the National Anti-Racism Framework, and they have failed, leaving communities to bear the brunt of rising hate, threats, and violence.
"The National Anti-Racism Framework provides a holistic and systemic approach to combatting hate and racism, grounded in truthtelling and built on years of evidence and community consultation. Refusing to fund it at a time when hate and racism is being fuelled by the far-right shows Labor is all talk and no action.
"Building a genuinely anti-racist country requires real investment, structural reform, and political courage, all of which are missing from Labor's budget.
"There's always more money for war and for fossil fuel subsidies, but nothing for renters, for students, and for people living on income support. They'd rather cut $37 billion from NDIS than tax gas companies to pay their fair share. This tells you everything you need to know about so-called 'Labor values'.
"While Labor, Liberals and One Nation side with the 1% and their corporate donors, the Greens will always fight for people and planet.'"
