Maurice Williamson
National Tertiary Spokesperson
7 July 2002
National's tertiary policy applies to all students
National's 'You Stay, We pay' Tertiary Education Policy applies to all students graduating from Polytechnics, Colleges
of Education, Universities and Wänanga, says National's Tertiary Education spokesman Maurice Williamson.
Mr Williamson was replying to criticisms levelled at the policy, which was released today by Tertiary Education Minister
Steve Maharey.
"Steve Maharey has obviously been affected by Helen Clark's new low standards in honesty.
"Is he really opposed to this policy in principle or is he just nitpicking? Even Labour's new-found coalition partner
the Greens agree with the principle of rebating debt.
"In 2000, there were 60,645 students who graduated with degrees, diplomas and certificates, of which 33,355 left
tertiary institutions with debt. This has been the basis on which we costed our policy.
"Contrary to Mr Maharey's other claim, National has not ruled out continuing the fees stabilisation initiatives.
"Meanwhile, he should really wait until our industry training policy is released on Thursday before making more silly
comments," Mr Williamson added.
Ends