TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to SBS News in Easy English. I'm Sam Dover.
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The Greens are calling on the federal government to bring forward its plan to cut student debt by 20 per cent for three million Australians.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the policy pledge over the weekend as part of a pitch to voters ahead of the next federal election.
The proposal would wipe - on average - $5,520 off those with student debts as of 1 July 2025.
Students accumulating debts from 2026 onwards would not benefit from the move.
Greens Senator for South Australia, Barbara Pocock, says she would like to see the government initiate the plan this year.
"We have pushed relentlessly in the Greens for reductions in student debt. Why wait? We say to the Albanese government, let's do this now. Let's now defer this until after the election. Students need relief now. And we in the Greens are willing to move straightaway to be possible this year - to give relief to those young students dealing with student debt, so they can get on with their lives."
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With only one day until the US election, the presidential candidates are delivering their final pitches to voters in battleground states.
In a repeat of tactics used in 2020, Donald Trump has baselessly claimed the 2024 election is being stolen from him.
Mr Trump told supporters in Pennsylvania they should be ready for anything.
"But it is now or never. This is it. This is the moment. We have been waiting nine years for this. And we have got two days. And we have got all this crap going on - with the press (media) and the fake stuff. And fake polls. And by the way, the polls are just as corrupt as some of the writers back there. They can make those polls sing, they can make them swing. They brag about it."
In Michigan, Vice President Kamala Harris asked worshippers to put "faith in action" with their vote.
“And here is what feeds my spirit as I travel across our beautiful nation - from state to state and church to church. I see faith in action in remarkable ways. I see a nation determined to turn the page on hatred and division - and chart a new way forward."
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In sport,
The Sydney Marathon has become the seventh in the elite series of World Marathon Majors.
Athletics Australia President Jane Flemming says the addition of the Sydney Marathon to the Majors is a transformative moment for Australian athletics.
It is the first race added to the Majors since Tokyo in 2013 and joins other events in Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City.
Flemming says she expects the achievement that will inspire countless Australians to take up running.
The Sydney Marathon is the largest marathon in Oceania and saw a record 20,272 finishers during its 2024 race on September 15.
The next race is set for next year on August 31.
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I'm Sam Dover. This has been SBS News in Easy English.
