Campus democracy to be restored

National student leaders are welcoming the Government's intention to correct problems with student association membership legislation, and restore democracy to campuses around New Zealand.

The Minister of Education Trevor Mallard has announced that the Labour/Alliance Coalition Government would introduce new student association membership legislation into Parliament this year.

"At last, we have the chance to have a reasonable piece of legislation put in place that will respect the rights of students to decide the membership status of their association, and allows associations to effectively represent and support students," said New Zealand University Students' Association (NZUSA) Co-President Sam Huggard.

"The current legislation tilts the playing field against associations with universal membership, is full of draconian clauses, and creates a wide range of bizarre compliance costs for students and institutions," said Aotearoa Post-compulsory Student Union (APSU) National President David Penney.

"We hope that the new legislation will remove the unnecessary distractions and troubles of the past few years, and allow us to get on with our core business of serving and defending students," said David Penney.

"We have been in discussions with the Labour and Alliance parties for a long time regarding the problems with the current legislation and we are pleased that they are going to tidy them up now they are in government," said Sam Huggard.

ENDS

For more comment contact:

David Penney

President

APSU

04 498 2501

025 756 526

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