Midday News Bulletin 3 November 2024

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TRANSCRIPT
Federal government announces 20 per cent reduction of student loans
Meetings held in Egypt to discuss post-conflict governance of Gaza
Oscar Piastri gifts teammate Lando Norris the victory in Sao Paulo
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The Federal Government plans further changes to the student debt repayment scheme after it raised the minimum repayment threshold amid the cost of living crisis.
Following a series of controversies involving the Prime Minister’s purchase of a $4.3 million clifftop property and his acceptance of free Qantas flight upgrades, the government is seeking to bring focus back to their efforts to deal with the cost of living crisis.
The Government says graduates with an average debt of $27,600 will have $5,520 wiped off their student loans by June 2025.
The policy will also apply to other loans such as vocational, education and training courses, and apprenticeship support loans.
Education Minister Jason Clare has told Sky News Agenda that the changes will make education fairer for Australians.
“When you and I were at university back last century, university was a lot cheaper than it is today. Even in the early 2000s, it was cheaper back then, students contributed, on average, about thirty percent to the cost of the degree, and taxpayers, the government contributed the other seventy percent. Now it’s more like a bit over forty percent that on average, students contribute and the taxpayer or the government contributes about 60%. This fixes that for this generation of Australians, 3 million Australians who’ve got union Tafe qualifications over the last decade or so.”
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Former Australian ambassador to the United States Joe Hockey says he expects the U-S election to be close and says a re-election of Donald Trump will be good for Australia.
Speaking to media on Sunday, the former treasurer says he believes most Americans have made up their minds ahead of this weeks election but expects the full results won’t be clear for several days.
On the Republican candidate Donald Trump, Mr Hockey says he has a favourable view of Australia and will be more predictable than Kamala Harris because he has been in office before.
Speaking to Sky News Agenda, Mr Hockey says predicting the outcome of the US election is far more challenging than in Australia.
“In the United States with voluntary voting, as opposed to the compulsory voting we have in Australia, pollsters need to ask a number of questions rather than just one. In Australia, you say you’re voting for a Liberal government or a Labor government. Pretty simple, because we all know everyone has to go out and vote. But here you’re trying to work out whether they are actually going to turn up and vote. And, importantly whether they’re going to follow the ticket.”
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Egyptian security sources say senior officials of the Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas are meeting in Cairo to discuss the management of Gaza’s governance after the conflict.
The talks are discussing the formation of a committee to manage the governance and are part of broader Egyptian mediation efforts to broker a ceasefire and expand humanitarian access.
The source says the committee will be made up of independent Palestinian figures not aligned to any particular movement.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation says Israeli strikes on a polio vaccination clinic in Gaza wounded six people, including four children.
In the north, mother of three Azhar al-Najjar says her children are still waiting for their vaccination.
“I stayed here in northern Gaza along with all my children, and came here to give my children the polio vaccine. They were supposed to get it a month ago, but due to the offensive and the siege it was delayed a month. We hope it will protect the children against polio.”
Authorities say around 60 people have been killed and nearly 200 wounded by Israeli strikes in Gaza in the past 24 hours.
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Formula One driver Oscar Piastri has gifted his world championship-chasing colleague Lando Norris victory for a McLaren one-two in the Sao Paulo F1 Grand Prix sprint.
Piastri was still at the head of the field in Saturday’s race with only two laps left and within reach of the second sprint win of his career before following team orders to let Norris come through and claim victory.
The Australian driver still managed to hold off a final charge from Red Bull’s champion leader Max Verstappen, finishing second behind the Brit.