The Prime Minister said the HECS program should never have saddled Australian students with “debt for life”.

The prime minister said his promise of student debt relief was intended to encourage more people to pursue higher education and that the current program leaves people crippled by debt.

“The HECS program was never meant to be a lifetime debt. It was meant to be a contribution to education,” Albanese told ABC Radio National today.

“We’re restoring equity there so people start paying back once they make $67,000 instead of $54,000.

“Reducing people’s debt by 20 percent will make a difference to their cost of living, so if you earn $70,000, you’ll pay about $1,300 less a year in repayments.”

Albanese said it was unfair that previous generations, like him, were able to benefit from free college.

Students who complete college in three years now have debts in the range of $20,000 to $30,000.

“I’ll tell you what fails the fairness test is the fact that I received a free education, and for many, many people who have this debt hanging over them, for many people, the interest they pay on that debt is more than the initial HECS payment,” he added.

Albanese also said on WSFM that he believes students are now getting “the tip of the pineapple” with the HECS program as it is.

However, the coalition slammed Labor’s plan to wipe out student debt, saying it was unfair to people who don’t have student loans.

Opposition MP Paul Fletcher said taxpayers should not foot the bill to ease the financial burden on a minority.

“The coalition believes this is a deeply unfair policy,” Fletcher told Radio National today.

“People who benefit from higher education will have much higher lifetime earnings than the community average and so it is appropriate that they bear some of the cost of their education.”

Nationals leader David Littleproud also told the ABC the government would “struggle” to afford the money needed to clear student debt.

He said the focus would be better served on issues such as inflation and energy.

“I just don’t see how we can pick winners with that amount of money and support a mechanism like this,” Littleproud said.

“In this whole cost of living crisis, it is more urgent to reduce your energy bill, and we can do it quickly with more gas and a long-term energy policy.”