4 October 2001 Media Statement

Don’t get too excited over draft report Maurice, says Maharey

Associate Education (Tertiary Education) Minister Steve Maharey is telling National tertiary education spokesperson Maurice Williamson not to get too excited about a draft funding report.

Mr Maharey expects to receive a report from the Tertiary Education Advisory Commission next week recommending a new funding system for tertiary education. The Advisory Commission was established last year to assist the Government to reshape New Zealand's tertiary education system to meet changing economic and social needs.

Mr Maharey said the Government would consult widely on the report before introducing a new funding model for the 2003 academic year.

"The draft report that Maurice Williamson is touting about has not yet been finalised or submitted to me.

"The Government only comments on finalised reports. I expect to receive the report of the Commission next week. It will be the advice of the Commission, not a statement of Government policy.

"As with the other three reports I have already received from the Commission, the Government will seek widespread feedback before Cabinet decides on the shape of the new funding system.

"My advice to Maurice Williamson is not too get too excited about a draft report. He, like everyone else, will see the final report soon enough," Steve Maharey 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>>