Tertiary Education Union
19 November 2012

Minister’s directive to Auckland VC is attack on academic freedom

Steven Joyce’s threat to cut the University of Auckland’s funding unless it teaches what he wants is a direct attack on academic freedom, says TEU national president Sandra Grey.

"The Minister is trampling over the University of Auckland’s institutional autonomy and over academic freedom, as legislated for in the Education Act."

Dr Grey says it is naïve to think the government should have no say in what universities do, but that should not come at the expense of their independent and democratic autonomy.

"Universities have institutional autonomy in order to ensure that these institutions are able to critique governments, politicians, and ministers, as well as others who hold power in New Zealand. Without institutional autonomy, and with threats such as the Minister has made that 'I'm watching them [University of Auckland] really closely', our universities risk becoming puppets of the state."

ends

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Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>