Hot Topic

Student unions -- obsessive compulsion or a voice for the better?

The Education (Freedom of Association) Bill was last month given the green light by a select committee and is due for a second reading this month. In this hot topic, we highlight reaction to the bill's progress.

The parliamentary record of the bill, that allows voluntary student union membership, is at this web page.

Further information about the select committee vote is at this web page.

Student association representatives from four institutions said that the Government's support for the bill put tertiary education in jeopardy.

Act MP Heather Roy, who initially promoted the legislation, said many associations were wasteful or partisan and against the views of the wider student body.

"Making membership voluntary will ensure associations are more accountable to those they claim to support," Mrs Roy said.

Good examples of the Victoria University Students' Assocation performing poorly can be found at the blog of Victoria University law student Jenna Raeburn.

Whitireia Polytechnic's student union was this year alleged to have misappropriated up to $750,000.

A list of alleged frauds from a number of student unions is listed at this web page.

The executive director of the Business Roundtable, Roger Kerr, this week said "all workers in New Zealand (except under exceptional circumstances eg consumer protection in the case of professions such as medicine) are rightly entitled to freedom of association, yet currently students are subjected to compulsory union membership. VSM is a no-brainer".

A Business Roundtable submission from earlier this year argued that students' associations would survive and flourish in a voluntary environment.

"Claims that were made about the demise of trade unions if their monopoly privileges were removed were shown to be unfounded. The unions that quickly accepted the need to adjust and to tailor their services to their members' needs have been the most successful," the submission argued.

Commentator David Farrar said the reality was only a small proportion of compulsory fees went to so-called student services. The vast majority of student services are already funded by the institutions.

"I've gone through decades of student association accounts, and their spending on true essential services is minimal. In the odd case where they do, the institution may pick it up," Farrar said.

"The New Zealand Union of Students' Associations (NZUSA) is splitting at the seams after disagreements over its approach to Voluntary Student Membership (VSM) and the Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill currently before parliament," says ACT on Campus President, Peter McCaffrey.

Louise Burns, Executive Director at University Sport New Zealand said "We hold grave concerns for the future of tertiary sport if the ... Bill were to pass. Australia's recent experience, where tertiary sport was decimated, shows just what would happen under this Bill."

The bill received more than 4400 submissions, with more than 90 per cent opposed to it. The New Zealand Union of Students' Associations said "National needs to consider the feedback from those in the tertiary sector at the coalface of delivering important services, facilities and representation to students. Submitters recognised the Bill is unworkable, not supported by students, would result in major new costs to Government, institutions and students."