Australian prime minister says reducing student debt is his re-elected government's first priority

MELBOURNE, Austalia — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told his government colleagues on Friday that reducing student debt would be the first legislative priority for his administration that was returned to power in the nation's first election in which the Baby Boomer generation was outnumbered by younger voters.

Albanese addressed a crowded room full of center-left Labor Party lawmakers in Parliament House for the first time since his government won an emphatic election victory on May 3.

The struggle a growing number of young Australians — particularly those burdened with student loans — face to buy their first home, due to soaring real estate prices and a lack of new housing construction was a major election issue.

Albanese said a bill to reduce student debt by 20% would be the first legislation to be introduced when Parliament resumes in late July.

Australia committed to intergenerational equity

''I think that's important, not just in itself but for what it says about our commitment to intergenerational equity,'' Albanese said.

Baby Boomers are often defined as people born between World War II and 1964. Their needs have long dominated Australian election campaigns.

As vote counting continued on Friday, Labor was on track to win 88 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, the lower chamber where parties need a majority to form government. The party held 78 seats in the last parliament.

The conservative opposition alliance of parties was likely to claim only 41 seats.

Albanese praised the diversity of Labor's elected lawmakers and said at least 57% of them are expected to be women once the vote counting is completed. The Australian population was 50.7% female at the last census in 2021.

''I … see people of different ethnicities, different backgrounds, different experiences, different faiths. I see a diverse group of people that are truly representative of our nation,'' Albanese told his government colleagues.

Jewish and Muslim ministers dropped from Cabinet

But the government has been criticized for dropping Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, the government's most senior Jew, and Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic, the government's most prominent Muslim, from the new Cabinet that will be sworn in on Tuesday.

The government would be the first in Australia without a Jewish minister since 2010, Dreyfus staffer Stephen Spencer said. Dreyfus is one of three Jewish lawmakers in the government.

Cabinet ministers are decided by party factions that are entitled to a proportion of ministerial seats that reflects their share of government lawmakers.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Defense Minister Richard Marles, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher have been assured they will hold their portfolios. But Albanese has yet to announce the remainder of his ministers.

The meeting of Labor lawmakers on Friday endorsed the 30 appointments to the Cabinet and junior ministries.

Health Minister Mark Bulter said Anne Aly, a junior minister, was expected to be promoted to Cabinet next week which would mean a Muslim woman replacing Husic.

''It's a tough day for Ed and for Mark,'' Bulter told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Sydney Muslim leader calls for the prime minister to intervene

Sydney Muslim community leader Jamal Rifi called for Albanese to intervene to keep Husic, a Sydney lawmaker, in Cabinet.

''The prime minister needs to reflect on what sort of message he sends to all these people who worked hard in southwestern Sydney'' for the government's re-election, Rifi said. Southwest Sydney has a large Muslim population.

Husic is one of the government's most vocal critics of how Israel has waged war on Hamas in Gaza.

Two weeks after the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Husic said: ''I feel very strongly that Palestinians are being collectively punished ... for Hamas' barbarism.''