Govt. policy out of step with students, and party

Govt. policy out of step with students, the public and now the Party

"The Labour party leadership must listen to the strong message from its party faithful and make more of an effort to cut the cost of tertiary education," said Sam Huggard, Co President of the New Zealand University Students Association.

Mr. Huggard was responding to several remits from the Labour party annual conference this weekend clearly indicating that party members want more progress to be made in tertiary education.

The conference passed motions supporting universal living allowances for students, the lowering of tuition fees and the removal of interest on all student loans (rather than just for those who are studying).

"Labour's conference this weekend has shown that the parliamentary wing of the Labour party are not in tune with their grassroots members. Their members, and the public at large, want major changes in the funding of tertiary education."

"High fees and the lack of universal living allowances are the key contributors to the nearly $4 billion worth of student debt. A freeze on 2001 tertiary fees and on student loan interest rates (while studying) will not affect this debt in any meaningful way."

"The public wants the costs of tertiary education to come down. Labour party members have responded to this, it is now time for the Prime Minster and her Cabinet colleagues to follow suit," said Sam Huggard.

Ends.

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