The HECS debt system is broken.

If you or someone close to you has a HECS debt, you might already know about the unfair indexation system: because the debts are indexed to inflation, last year everyone’s debt grew by 7.1 percent, almost double as much as wages grew.

As a result, in 2023 more than one million Australians saw their HECS debt grow faster than it was being repaid. Last year, if you had an average HECS debt and an average salary, you would have automatically repaid $1,500 of your HECS debt… but your debt would have increased by $1,700.

We’re in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, a housing crisis, and a climate crisis — we shouldn’t burden millions of Australians with a HECS debt crisis as well.

This isn’t just about fairness, it’s about how much our society values tertiary education. Unfortunately, I’ve had several constituents tell me they are holding off on starting university because they’re worried about taking on HECS debts. We should be encouraging university enrollment, not scaring people off.

Over the past year, I’ve repeatedly urged Education Minister Jason Clare to make HECS debts fairer by changing the way they’re indexed. A major report into tertiary education commissioned by the government reported back last week, suggesting the same change.

It’s now time for the government to act. I will keep the pressure on until they do so.

In this newsletter, a look at how we took electric vehicles to Parliament, the spectacular Glenferrie Festival, and a very busy few weeks of events coming up.

We took EVs to Parliament

I’ve been advocating for fuel emissions standards since before the 2022 election, and last month the Government responded (see here for more info).

Of course, not all car manufacturers are happy about complying with fuel emissions standards, and lobbyists are trying to muddy the waters about that (but that’s another story you can read about here).

Electric vehicles are a key component of reducing the impact of vehicle emissions on our climate, and they are getting more affordable and more readily available. To highlight this, last week in Parliament I co-hosted a Roundtable to talk about what’s happening in the industry.

…and we brought EVs to Parliament to showcase the possibilities.

One of the first steps to transforming Australia into the clean, green economic superpower we can become is decarbonising our transport. After a decade of inaction, we are finally making important moves towards cleaner and healthier transportation.

Glenferrie Festival

Perfect weather - sunny but not too hot - meant a long and happy day at Glenferrie Festival. It was a great chance to catch up with volunteers, and have lots of conversations with locals, hearing what matters to our community - the hottest issues of the day were housing and HECS.

What’s On With Mon

There are so many events on the calendar this month. I hope I’ll see many of you at one or more of them.

Here’s what’s coming up this week.

On Monday night, tune in to Australian Story on ABC TV, which will feature climate campaigner and student Anjali Sharma.

Then on Thursday, join me at a Town Hall where Zoe Daniel and I are hosting Anjali. We’ll hear about her campaign for a Duty of Care Act – a new idea that would require the government to consider the effects its decisions have on future generations – and we’ll talk about how a Duty of Care Act might work, and how we need to legislate standards for climate action and protection.

See details and book to attend or join the livestream here.

In collaboration with Services Australia's Financial Information Services team, we are hosting information sessions on the Aged Pension.

We invite you to come and learn about the steps involved in applying for the aged pension and how Services Australia can assist with the process. RSVP here.

We’re running a Chinese language translator session too.

介绍养老金和澳大利亚服务机构提供的服务 - Dr Monique Ryan MP

RSVP here.

If you know others in the Kooyong community who may find these sessions helpful, please share the details with them.

Join the Kooyong community for one of the most important days on the charity calendar — the Relay for Life. Relay for Life is an annual event raising vital funds for the Cancer Council’s research, prevention and support services.

I’ll be at Auburn High School on Saturday 16th of March and I’d love to see you there. Click here to join us — and donate if you can.

As well as these wonderful events we have several more coming up:

Think global, act local

Before I sign off, the people over at Electrify Boroondara asked me to spread the word that they are conducting a community survey…

OK, that’s all for now. As always, my team and I are here to help where we can.

All the best,