{"id":592021,"date":"2026-09-06T15:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T15:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/592021\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T15:00:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T15:00:15","slug":"nationals-student-loan-crackdown-fails-to-sway-kiwis-in-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/592021\/","title":{"rendered":"National’s student loan crackdown fails to sway Kiwis in Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

National’s proposed policy on lowering student loan rates<\/a> may appeal to graduates in the country, but for those living overseas it makes repaying their debts tougher.<\/p>\n

The policy outlines the Government’s plan to keep graduates living in NZ by lowering repayment rates from 12 cents to 10c for every dollar earned over $24,128.<\/p>\n

However, the proposed changes will not benefit working Kiwis who moved across the ditch.<\/p>\n

Some\u00a0Kiwis living across the ditch say higher wages and better opportunities mean the proposed penalties\u00a0won’t\u00a0persuade them to move home.\u00a0 (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Tougher penalties such as a 1% increase on rates and looser arrest thresholds for overseas loan holders could potentially impact everyday living.<\/p>\n

Part of National’s plan would be to implement rules that ensure Kiwis living abroad won’t be able to access their KiwiSavers before paying off their student loans.<\/p>\n

\"University<\/p>\n

University of Auckland Business Professor Robert MacCulloch. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

University of Auckland Business School Professor Robert MacCulloch told 1News that limiting KiwiSaver access is unfair and problematic.<\/p>\n

“I think it is fundamentally an attack on kiwis who are living abroad.<\/p>\n

“The KiwiSaver funds are your own money, they are not government money. When a government says ‘we’re going to sequester your own money for a particular purpose’, that raises a lot of issues. As a general principle the Government’s not allowed to do that,” MacCulloch said.<\/p>\n

Finance minister Nicola Willis said law changes might have to happen in order to carry out the proposed changes, assuring the Government would do so within reason.<\/p>\n

Willis argued the penalties would be worth it, as according to National overseas borrowers make up 93% of student loan debts, with just three out of 10 meeting their annual repayment requirements.<\/p>\n

\"Queensland<\/p>\n

Queensland midwifery student Angel Maihi. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Kiwi midwifery student Angel Maihi used to study in NZ and has $40,000 in student debt.<\/p>\n

She now studies in Queensland and is concerned what the future will hold for her.<\/p>\n

“It does worry me a little bit that the interest rate is increasing on the student loan and it makes me want to pay it off quite quickly,” she said.<\/p>\n

But increasing loan rates and restricting access to private funds aren’t enough to convince graduates in Australia to return to NZ.<\/p>\n

\"Higher<\/p>\n

Higher wages mean Australia remains the preferred place to live. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Maihi told 1News that the Government’s pledge to crack down on people in her position hasn’t convinced her to move home.<\/p>\n

“Australia pays midwives quite a lot more here so one reason is wages.<\/p>\n

“I am not a citizen here, so I don’t get a student loan in Australia, and I pay my course fees up front and I still live week to week. It’s just way easier to get ahead in the long run,” Maihi said.<\/p>\n

Another Kiwi, Natasha Smits, says moving her career back to New Zealand doesn’t make financial sense.<\/p>\n

“If I were to come home to New Zealand, I would take a $60,000 a year pay cut immediately,” she told 1News.<\/p>\n

For Kiwi students and graduates, the benefits of living across the ditch may continue to prove worthwhile, despite the National’s proposed efforts against them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"National’s proposed policy on lowering student loan rates may appeal to graduates in the country, but for those…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":592022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,84,111,43,139,69,135],"class_list":["post-592021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-australia","tag-education","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/592022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}