Liz, Read My Lips:Student Loans Not For Sale: Bradford

The Government has no intention of selling student loan accounts to the private sector, Tertiary Education Minister Max Bradford said today.

He was commenting after a tiresome claim from the Alliance that the Government had talked to the Westpac Banking Corporation about the securitisation of student loans earlier this year.

Mr Bradford said he had not met with a representative of Westpac or any person from the private sector to discuss the potential sale of loans.

"The Government's position is clear. Student loans are not for sale.

"Liz Gordon already knows this as I have told her at least three times this year, but she continues to be hell bent on distorting the facts for political gain.

"She is trying to beat up an election issue where there isn't one," Mr Bradford said.

"The option of securitisation was fleetingly mentioned in the review of the Student Loan Scheme last year. Many other options were also mentioned.

"During the review the Treasury advised that, "past work on securitisation has concluded that the cost of selling the risk posed by the student loan asset outweighs any benefits provided," Mr Bradford said.