Conference must send message over student fees

12 November 2004

Labour Party conference must send clear message to the Government over student fees

Students are calling on this weekend’s Labour Party Conference to send a clear message to the Government that the fee increases students suffered in the last two years cannot continue.

“The Labour Government has clearly broken its election promise for affordable tertiary education by letting fees rise,” said Fleur Fitzsimons, Co-President of the New Zealand University Students’ Association. “We’re asking Labour Party members to ensure that promises are met and that students don’t continue to face fee increases year after year.”

The conference will be debating a remit supported by the party’s youth wing calling on the government to commit to a vision of universal free education.

“The Labour Party should force the Government to address increasing levels of student debt by committing to a policy that makes student fees go down not up.”

“It is clear from recent fees setting decisions that tertiary institutions cannot be trusted to make responsible decisions about fees and that Government need to step in to defend students.”

“Fee hikes lead to more student debt and more social and economic problems for borrowers, and for the whole country. If Labour want to be a long-term Government, they need to deal with the long-term problems caused by the unfair student loan scheme.”

ENDS

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