Party target student-debt mountain as a vote-winner

A $2 billion Green Party plan to axe the student loans scheme and write off all debt for those staying in New Zealand will be a big priority in any post-election talks with Labour.

The student support policy was launched at the party's weekend conference in Christchurch by tertiary education spokesman Nandor Tanczos with the help of NZ University Students Association co-president Andrew Kirton.

Part of the NZ Super Fund would be siphoned off to help pay for the policy.

The most expensive plank is the Greens' long-held wish for a universal student allowance, at an estimated cost of about $1 billion a year.

But the debt write-off scheme, costing less than $500 million a year, is seen as a more realistic prospect for Labour to agree to.

A year's debt would be written off for each year that a student-debtor was in paid or unpaid work in New Zealand.

Those earning over the repayment threshold would still make payments over the write-off period but at the end of each year their debt would fall even further as the write-off would apply to them as well.

Other parts of the package include capping and progressively reducing fees, and lowering from 25 to 20 the age at which students are no longer means-tested on their parents' income.

A spokeswoman for Education Minister Trevor Mallard said he had not seen the policy and did not want to comment.

National claimed a Labour-Green Government would have to raise taxes to implement any of the "hugely expensive" package.

Launching the policy on Saturday, Mr Tanczos said young people had been "robbed" by a generation which wanted everything for itself and to leave nothing for the future.

The scheme, and other reforms such as privatisation and user-pays, were "intergenerational theft".

Mr Kirton said the policy was a refreshing and bold step, unlike the current Government's head-in-the-sand approach.

Student debt is now $7.7 billion and expected to hit $10 billion by 2010.