Immediate Release: Wednesday, 8 March 2005
NZUSA gets it wrong… again
ACT on Campus National Coordinator Michael Collins today said it was customary practice for the New Zealand Students’
Association to have poor solutions to the problems it articulates, however it is something new to get the problems wrong
altogether.
Mr Collins was responding to a NZUSA media statement, released today, which claims that Labour is driving graduates
overseas by burdening them with high levels of debt.
“I don’t dispute that graduates are leaving our shores, but I do question whether anyone has burdened them with debt.
“Students take out loans on their own initiative. They recognise that their education is an asset for their future. The
Government did not force them to take out this debt.
“This isn’t to say that Labour’s other policies aren’t responsible for driving our best and brightest overseas. Most
graduates are hit hard by Helen Clark’s envy taxes that punish hard-work and enterprise”.
Mr Collins questioned how serious the Government was about addressing the skills shortage when they consistently taxed
those with the skills through the roof.
“If Labour was serious about keeping skilled graduates in New Zealand then it would stop penalising them and lower
taxes,” Mr Collins said.
ENDS