Student leaders at Auckland have reacted in anger at the government's
policy announcements on tertiary education today, titled 'Five
Steps Ahead'.

"'Five Steps Ahead' is nothing more than rhetoric and a branding
and marketing exercise in election year. It is shallow, badly
thought through and completely misses the critical issues in
the sector. It is merely tinkering at the sides of a sector
in crisis", said Auckland University Students Association President
Efeso Collins.

"Once again, the government has failed to address the real issues
in tertiary education. The Government wants to have a knowledge
based economy overnight without putting in the legwork. What
they should be addressing is rising fees, inadequate staffing
levels, the lack of universal living allowances and runaway
student debt - currently at $3 Billion."

The funding announcements today are

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>