30 reasonable amendments to VSM voted down by National

30 reasonable amendments to extreme Bill voted down by National

On the eve of the Third Reading of ACT’s bill to end universal membership of students’ associations this afternoon, students are highlighting National’s pattern of voting down multiple reasonable amendments to the Bill.

An analysis of Hansard and the Supplementary Order Papers lodged towards the Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill shows 30 proposed amendments to the Bill were voted down in the House and 4 were financially vetoed.

“National has stubbornly supported this poor legislation while voting down many reasonable amendments that would have made this Bill more workable, less harmful, and easier to adjust to,” says NZUSA Co-President Max Hardy

Fair and sensible amendments to the Bill voted down by National include:

• extending the Bill’s implementation date to 1 January 2013 for the sector to adjust and implement the new system
• ensuring prospective and current students are informed about the associations’ services and options for joining
• allowing advertising of the services and benefits of association membership
• including space on enrolment forms to provide students the option to choose to join an association
• ensuring associations are provided with contact details of current members (a requirement under the Incorporated Societies Act)
• providing autonomous representation and advocacy for students
• the Ministry of Education reviewing the effects of the Bill after five years

Financially vetoed amendments sought to make it easier for students to pay their association fees with their student loans and to provide tertiary institutions with transition funding to carry on providing services previously provided by associations if they collapse under the new system.

“National has chosen to reject these proposals and not even allow a more informed choice to be made by students next year. They have also ruled out a Kiwisaver-style opt-out system. If they really wanted to provide more choice for students – their stated aim in supporting it – then they should have been open to some of these suggestions,” says Hardy.

“National’s inflexibility on this issue reflects ACT’s ideological obsession with students’ associations. National continues to push an unwanted system onto a tertiary sector with just three months to prepare. This is irresponsible and vindictive law-making at its worst,” says NZUSA Co-President David Do.

“It’s getting harder to buy the claim from National that they aren’t actually trying to deliberately destroy students’ associations and ensure students no longer have a coordinated voice on the issues affecting them,” concludes Do.

A full list of amendments is available here.

NZUSA is the national representative body for tertiary students and has been advocating on student issues since 1929.

ENDS