Taxing beer to subsidise champagne

Most Australian students choose their courses out of interest; they are not price-sensitive. But they are not silly. A dollar in your hand today is more valuable than a dollar knocked off your loan years from now. Thus the Victorian government should consider enticing students into studying nursing by contributing to their living costs today, while they are learning, rather than paying their loans after they graduate and can afford to repay them.

In summary, income-contingent loans, like those used in Australia, make access to higher education dependent on brains rather than bankbooks. Cancelling them is unfair, unnecessary, and unlikely to influence course choices.

Of course, students would like to see their loans forgiven. Robbing Peter to pay Paul will always win Paul's approval.

But, cancelling loans will impose a high cost on the economy, antagonise those who have faithfully paid their debts, do nothing to entice students to study certain subjects, and violate our egalitarian ideals.