Protests highlight Governments’ gross ignorance

THE AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' ASSOCIATION (INC.)
TE ROOPU TAUIRA O TE WHARE WAANANGA O TAMAKI MAKAURAU

Media Release
For immediate release

Friday 17 December 1999

Protests highlight Governments’ gross ignorance

“Protests this week by students at Otago and Canterbury Universities have highlighted the hardship students are under nationwide,” according to Auckland University Student’s Association (AUSA) Education Vice President, Eva Neitzert.

“Clearly students are being driven to despair by huge loans, ever increasing tuition fees and laughable access to student allowances,” continued Ms Neitzert.

“This despair is heightened by the fact that the Minister for Tertiary Education, Max Bradford, obviously has no understanding of the problems students are facing. Mr Bradford’s comments in the recent Women’s Weekly that ‘We have seen no hard evidence of students being denied bank loans, putting off buying houses or delaying starting families as a result of their student loans’ is indicative of his seemingly complete ignorance of student issues.”

Ms Neitzert expressed support for students at Canterbury and Otago Universities and reiterated demands made by these students, “Clearly an immediate freeze on tuition fees, interest free loans and the reinstatement of the Emergency Unemployment Benefit (EUB) are required if student hardship is to be alleviated.”

Contact:

Eva Neitzert (09) 309 0789 x 204
AUSA Education Vice President e.neitzert@auckland.ac.nz

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