Students Vote For Voluntary Membership

7 November 2000

Media release

STUDENTS VOTE FOR VOLUNTARY MEMBERSHIP

University of Auckland students have voted to maintain voluntary membership of the Auckland University Students’ Association (AUSA).

Fifty nine percent of students who returned postal ballot papers voted in favour of retaining voluntary membership.

Returning Officer, Warwick Nicoll says 5545 students voted in favour of voluntary membership, while 3814 voted to return to compulsory membership. There were 30 informal votes.

More than twenty seven thousand enrolled students were eligible to vote in the referendum. Some 34% of these (9389 students) returned postal ballot papers.

Membership of AUSA was compulsory until a student-initiated referendum in April 1999 determined by a narrow margin of just 108 votes that AUSA membership should be voluntary from 1 May 1999.

Subsequently the University has entered into new arrangements to provide some services to students which had previously been funded from the AUSA membership fee.

AUSA has continued to function as a students’ association under the voluntary membership provisions.

Media inquiries:

Bill Williams
Public Relations Officer
University of Auckland
Tel. (09) 373 7599 x7698

Or

Kane Stanford
President, Auckland University Students’ Association
k.stanford@auckland.ac.nz
09 3090789 x373
(021) 656795

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