Media Release
14 January 2009

Learning our way out of troubles
 

“John Key and Bill English’s first cabinet meeting of the year tomorrow needs to focus on investing in the future rather than cutting corners,” says Tertiary Education Union (TEU) national secretary, Sharn Riggs.

Prime Minister John Key has said that his first cabinet meeting of the year, to be held tomorrow morning, will focus on New Zealand’s response to the global economic crisis.   The TEU believes it is important that cabinet’s response is to invest in learning and research to give New Zealand’s economy a chance to lift its way out of the threat of a long-term global economic crisis. 

“Tertiary education has the capacity, if well funded, to move people into new jobs and to move New Zealand’s economy in newly sustainable directions.  We can choose, like other strong economies and communities, to learn our way out of troubles that were not our own making.  But we need to overcome the current underfunding, and we need to do it now while we still have time.”

“The Prime Minister must resist the pre-election temptation to cut public services, because investing strategically in public research and education will be one of his best tools for making sure that New Zealand is well positioned to climb above global financial troubles.”

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