Evening News Bulletin 3 November 2024

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TRANSCRIPT
The Prime Minister pledges to permanently ensure fee-free TAFE opportunities for Australians.
The Greens argue the government’s proposed 20 per cent cut to student debt should go further…
Pat Cummins hints at the lineup for Australia’s first test against India.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a new commitment to permanently ensure fee-free TAFE opportunities for Australians.
The Albanese government now promises to introduce legislation to fund 100,000 fee-free TAFE places per year from 2027, building on a joint initiative with states and territories which started last year.
Since January 2023 to the 30th June 2024, there have been 508,000 enrolments in free TAFE courses, focusing on the areas of disability and aged care, tech, construction and early childhood education.
Mr Albanese says a Labor government will extend these free opportunities into the future to ensure Australians can continue to adjust to an evolving economy.
“We will legislate to guarantee 100,000 fee free TAFE places each and every year. More tradies to build our homes, more apprentices getting a start, more carers looking after our loved ones whether they be young or old, more opportunities for Australians to train and re-train in a changing and dynamic economy. TAFE gives our country and our people all of this and as long as there’s a Labor government, free TAFE is here to stay.”
The Greens have celebrated a decision by the Albanese government to wipe 20 per cent off the student debts of Australians but says more needs to be done.
The changes to the student debt repayment scheme will see university graduates and trade apprentices having their student debts reduced by a fifth at the next financial year.
For instance, the Government says graduates with an average debt of $27,600 will have $5,520 wiped off their student loans.
This also follows an announcement over the weekend that the HECS debt repayment threshold will be raised so students will not have to begin repaying their uni debts until they’re earning $67,000 rather than $54,435.
Senator Mehreen Faruqi, tertiary education spokesperson for the Greens, says the changes are a win for pressure efforts by her party but also tells S-B-S News that the government’s proposal doesn’t go far enough.
“The Greens have been relentlessly pushing the Albanese government to provide much-needed student debt relief since they came into power and the pressure has worked. The Greens are very proud of this win but let’s be clear: Labor’s plan falls short of what is needed. All student debt should be wiped and uni and TAFE should be free. This is a start but, if Labor can wipe 20 per cent of the student debt, surely they can wipe it all.”
Thousands of women have gathered in Washington, D-C and marched towards the White House just days before the U-S presidential election.
Close to 10,000 women travelled from across the country in a final push to demonstrate in favour of legal abortion and express their feelings as Tuesday’s election draws nears.
Republican presidential candidate and former U-S President Donald Trump has taken credit for appointing the justices who helped overturn the landmark 1973 Roe vs Wade decision, ending a nearly 50-year federal right to abortion in 2022.
Trump’s Democratic opponent and current Vice President Kamala Harris has made abortion one of the main campaign promises in her bid to reach the White House.
One attendee at the women’s march, Alexa, says she can’t believe women’s rights are still facing new challenges.
“I’m going to be 65 in January and I can’t believe we’re at this point again. And that people have become so cruel and vile and unkind. And this country is really, it’s a bunch of puritanical BS that we’re based on, right? Because why does anybody need to know who’s sleeping with whom anyway?”
New South Wales opposition leader Mark Speakman says Premier Chris Minns needs to force an end to a nine-month-long pay dispute with the Electrical Trade Union immediately.
The union is adamant that it wants an eight per cent pay rise for each of the next three years to guarantee a real wage boost after years of inflation damaging incomes.
The dispute has seen electrical workers at Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy and Essential Energy refuse to connect new homes and has seen significant projects like a redevelopment of Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital delayed.
Liberal leader Mark Speakman says Premier Minns needs to shut down the union’s efforts if he’s serious about new housing and infrastructure efforts.
In cricket,
Pat Cummins reveals that it’s possible Marnus Labuschagne [[lah-boo-shane]] will open for Australia in the first Test against India, as Nathan McSweeney pushes his case for a Test debut.
McSweeney has emerged as the big winner of the great bat-off today scoring an unbeaten 88 runs to guide Australia A to a seven-wicket win over India A in Mackay.
After three days of failures and missed opportunities for Test hopefuls in Mackay, McSweeney looked at ease as Australia A chased down the fourth-innings target of 225.
Australia are expected to pick their side for the first Test in Perth on Friday or Saturday and, for now, McSweeney looks likely to make the cut.