Otago University Students' Association administration
vice-president Brad Russell (standing, at left) and
association welfare officer Shonelle Eastwood (beside him)
take part in a protest yesterday over proposed voluntary
student membership legislation. Photo by Linda Robertson.
Controversial legislation to cut mandatory membership of
student associations could harm Dunedin's tertiary education
industry and damage many university campuses, Green Party
tertiary spokesman Gareth Hughes warns.
Mr Hughes, a Wellington-based list MP, addressed an Otago
University Students' Association rally attended by more than
40 people outside the University Union building yesterday.
Protesters burned an effigy symbolising the proposed
voluntary student membership (VSM) legislation and braved an
occasional heavy downpour.
Mr Hughes urged students to help make VSM a general election
issue. He said Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce
deserved a failing grade for the way he had dealt with the
matter.
In a later interview, Mr Hughes said the advent of VSM had
damaged campus life in Australia. VSM was also likely to
damage student life at Otago, and if that made the campus
less attractive to the university's many out-of-town
students, Dunedin's tertiary education industry could also be
harmed.
The rally was part of a nationally co-ordinated effort from
the New Zealand Union of Students' Associations yesterday
with associations elsewhere also voicing opposition to Act
New Zealand's Freedom of Association Bill.
The Bill is expected to have its final reading in Parliament
tomorrow, effectively marking the end of compulsory
membership of student associations.
Associations face a major drop in income when membership
becomes voluntary, a move which is also expected to threaten
the provision of some student services and campus facilities.
Auckland University Students' Association president Joe
McCrory said about 500 students attended a rally at 1pm.
About 250 students went on to occupy the top floor of the
Owen G. Glenn Building on campus.
After five hours of being holed up, the group marched to the
Auckland Central Police Station after one of the protesters,
Marcus Coverdale, was arrested for trespassing. After
chanting outside the station in front of about 25 officers
who blocked entry, the protesters retreated.
A statement from the vice-chancellor's office early last
evening said about 60 protesters had barricaded themselves
inside Auckland's Business School. They left the building at
6pm.
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