9 July 2013

Students oppose conscription calls

Today students at Victoria University are opposing what they say is a ‘daft’ call to re-impose compulsory military training on New Zealand’s young people.

President of Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association (VUWSA) Rory McCourt said he agreed youth crime was an issue for many elderly kiwis, but that depriving all young people of their freedom, and training them to shoot and kill was a recipe for “misery and disaster”.

“New Zealand’s young people in the twenty-first century don’t need conscription and guns, they need skills and jobs. If we want to compete in this changing global world we’ve got to invest in our young people from day one”

“Self worth shouldn’t have to come from firing a gun, it comes from whatever ignites the passion and confidence of that young person” said McCourt.

McCourt said increasing the number of trade apprenticeships and reversing cuts to university and student funding would keep youth in class and off the streets.

ENDS

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