Because it's their money, they spent it out of their own pockets while they were low education workers struggling to work largely in low paid part-time jobs.

While their low education mates were out partying and blowing what little they could spare of their meager incomes on a Friday night partying and drinking - they were hitting the books and putting their money towards improving their earning power in their later years.

Eliminating student debt is a great idea that will enable many students just starting out to hold their heads above water while studying for the future. But if we are going to give those in the future the opportunity then we should at least compensate those who sacrificed much in the past the same courtesy as well.

Because the implication here is that those that fail to achieve higher education and success only do so at their own fault.

You say fault. I never said that, I said choice. I went through public high school myself and saw the people who had the opportunity to make that decision, but the idea of making a break from studies and starting a real job was their preferred option. Some have been successful and are earning far more than may of my friends who choice the tertiary education path. But others have faltered, and either through a series of bad decisions, laziness (Yes, I know the elite try to label all poor people that way but the truth is that there genuinely are lazy people among the numbers) and bad luck which is the randomness you speak of.

I was one of them. In my final year at high school I was more concerned with having a social life and fun and hanging out with like minded friends instead of attending all my classes. I thought I'd just cruise through to Uni offers and start the real work once I was into the degree I wanted to get into (It wasn't a particularly high OP one) but I got a rude shock when my QTAC results came though with an OP 10 points below what I had expected to get. Suffice to say the reality check and a good deal of butt kicking from my parents at the time saw me enroll into a public adult secondary college and get a second chance at redeeming myself. Fortunately it paid off, I got into the degree with a newfound respect for what it meant to get a tertiary education.

But sure, you know what I'm actually going to use the word fault here. Not for everyone, but certainly there are some who do end up going down what they see as the easy path and they have nobody to blame but themselves.

Exactly. Especially since the government was quick to let everyone dip into their Super savings during Covid so they didn't have to spend as much on supporting those who needed it. I'd be happy if they capped it at $10-$20K being paid back because they really shouldn't have raided everyone's future retirement savings to survive instead of minimising their responsibilities at the time.

Correct.

Explain.

How is it classism if everyone starts the race from the same starting line? I'm not talking about those that had an advantage and were from wealthy enough families to have a fully paid education to start with - they never had to seek student loans in the first place. The only ones who really sought them out were those who were struggling and needed them to get through their education years while working part time instead of saving up for a car or having a social life.

Meanwhile their high school friends who had already entered the workforce were saving up, partying, going on holidays, buying cars and so forth. I'm not begrudging them the fact that they did this, but it was their choice at the time to pursue a different path. The ones who decided to continue with their studies were looking for higher paid professional careers when they graduated as the payoff. So they sacrificed the financial benefits of working sooner to order to achieve this. Now, a policy is being waved around that will wipe away all student debt. That's great! But what about the ones who slaved for years to pay for their education? If you are going to talk about equity then it should at least be considered to give something back to the students who have borne the burden already and have started out without savings or assets as a result of this. Give them at least something back in recognition of their efforts, this is not a handout but a hand-back of money that was already taken away from them to start with after all.