Students Represented With Voluntary Associations

Press Release
Keep CPSA Voluntary Campaign

30 August 2000

STUDENTS WELL REPRESENTED OFF-CAMPUS WITH VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS

Pro-compulsory students associations and their sympathisers often claim that compulsory associations are needed to lobby for and represent students off campus, such as with the Government.

The facts, however, are that all major political parties have youth wings. Students are extremely well represented in the leadership of these groups. For example:

* Young Labour has an executive of 13 members of whom 10 are students.
* The President of Prebble's Rebels, the youth wing of the ACT party, is a student at Otago University.
* The current chair of Young Nationals is a student at Canterbury University.
* All of these organisations have branches on various tertiary campuses throughout NZ.

Since student interests are so well represented by our major political parties, it follows that there is no need for students to be forced to pay fees to compulsory students associations to represent them at a national level.

The real agenda for compulsory associations is to provide financial support to Left wing causes, since compulsory associations, unsurprising, are usually of a Left wing political persuasion. Young Labour, the youth wing of the Labour Party, has seized upon this fact with an utterance by their Vice President:

"Obviously the recovery of the student unions is an important goal for Labour. If our wider project is to make headway, it's vital that `our' organisations are viable. Student unions are a good place for left wing activism, and an institutional prop that has no qualms about attacking our opponents. We need them as much as they need us."

Keeping voluntary membership on campuses will allow students to choose who they want to represent them. A vote for voluntary membership is a vote for choice.

We urge all students to vote NO to compulsory membership in the referendum.

For more information visit our web site at http://www.geocities.com/cpit_vsm/

ENDS

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