10 Aug 2016

Labour Party considers wiping student debts

6:53 pm on 10 August 2016

Student debts could be wiped in exchange for people taking public service jobs in the regions, under a new Labour Party proposal.

Labour is considering the policy and says it is not a new idea, but it came up in a discussion earlier this week with a student radio station.

Labour leader Andrew Little said there was a growing amount of student debt and it was hindering people from future life opportunities.

"There is a problem, with graduates with significant levels of debt, there is a further problem with organisations in the regions having difficult recruiting graduates in those regions. So it's about matching solutions to those particular problems."

Mr Little said the idea was similar to the government's model that aimed to attract people to work in the health sector in the regions.

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