Greens join call to save our services

New Green Party MP and Tertiary Education spokesperson Gareth Hughes today welcomed the launch of a national campaign to ‘Save Our Services’ from Roger Douglas’ voluntary students’ association membership Bill.

“A move to voluntary student membership (VSM) would erode essential student support services and be hugely detrimental to student welfare at our tertiary institutions,” Mr Hughes said.

Mr Hughes was responding to the launch of the nationwide ‘Save our Services’ campaign - a joint campaign by Rural Women New Zealand, the Quality Public Education Coalition, the Tertiary Education Union, UniQ Victoria, the Council of Trade Unions, Te Mana Akonga and the New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations.

At the moment, when students enroll in tertiary study they automatically become members of the students’ association at their institution. Roger Douglas’ Bill would change this rule so that individual students would have to opt-in to become members.

“Students’ associations provide welfare support, student loan and financial advice, advocacy, cultural and sporting facilities, student media, food banks, and much more. They have a hand in almost all the services that make tertiary study great for students, and they provide a safety net for them when things go wrong,” Mr Hughes said.

“A move to VSM would severely cut their funding and their ability to provide these services in the future.
“Tertiary institutions and the Government would be left to pick up the slack.
“In Australia, which has adopted VSM, the Government had to fork out $120 million to smooth the transition so that essential services could continue. This money is nearly used up but service levels are still substantially down.

“The current system works because it ensures students’ associations can provide key services to the majority of students, but gives students the option to opt-out. Individual associations can also hold referenda to move to voluntary membership, as some have.

“There is no need for a law change when these options already exist. All this Bill would do is erode services and destroy cultural life on our campuses.

“The Green Party firmly opposes this Bill. We encourage as many people as possible to make a submission to the Select Committee considering it to demonstrate how wide its impact could be,” Mr Hughes said.

Submissions close on 31 March.