"The Government's offer of a 2.6% increase to tertiary institutions doesn't even keep pace with inflation and equates to only 37 cents per student per day," National's Tertiary Education spokesperson Maurice Williamson said today.

"It is particularly galling given Labour was elected on a promise to make students better off. The Government can't keep its promise so it's planning to blame universities for breaking it.

"The 2.6% funding offer is no more than blackmail: take the money and reduce standards or turn it down and lose last year's 2.3% increase as well.

"The Government is misleading the public over 'Centres of Research Excellence' funding. This fund actually reallocates existing money. This Government is trying to give the impression that universities would be a lot better off under this fund. In fact, it's just blackmailing universities to accept the fee freeze offer with money they already have.

"Financial pressure is building on our tertiary institutions. Last year's fee freeze deal cost tertiary institutions $17.1 million. This year's deal will force cutbacks or debt of $70 million on the financially strapped institutions.

"Today's protest at Canterbury University demonstrates the predicament our tertiary institutions are in. The issue is simple. Either Government funding goes up or student fees go up," Mr Williamson said.

Ends

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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>>