The federal Greens have proposed getting rid of fees for undergraduate university or TAFE study to pull Australia out of the coronavirus pandemic.

Leader Adam Bandt has tabled his party’s response to dealing with the outbreak of Covid-19 and also suggested a raft of other measures that could not only create jobs but kickstart the economy.

In addition to a free undergrad, the Greens also want to have guaranteed jobs for people under the age of 30, build a high-speed rail network, decentralise services and revive Australia’s manufacturing sector. That’s no small order.

Mr Bandt admits that it’s a bold strategy but one that could help the country rebuild following the pandemic.

“Young people have been smashed by the corona crisis,” he said. “If we don’t offer every young person a job, a study place or a decent income, we risk creating a lost generation.”

Their policy would create nearly 900,000 jobs, with the majority being in ‘sustainable infrastructure’ and the public service. The party would also drive billions of dollars to the arts because the sector was left out of the government’s JobKeeper payment.

Another policy involves spending $2.3 billion on an entertainment and creative industries fund, which would support getting artists into every school and library in Australia.

The federal government is spending $130 billion on a six-month wage subsidy program to ensure people don’t go hungry or lose their home during the pandemic. It’s meant to run until September and will be regularly reviewed.

However, the Greens policy wants the government to spend more to keep people in the black.

Mr Bandt told the ABC: “If we don’t, the cost will be very, very high.

“We learnt from the global financial crisis that for young people who are starting their working lives at a time of recession, they carry the scars with them for life unless they’re given the opportunity of good, decent work with decent security working on meaningful projects.

“We owe this to young people because otherwise we’ll be stuck paying for income support for a very long time for what could be a lost generation.”

It will be interesting to see whether the proposals receive support across the political spectrum.