MEDIA RELEASE

Unanimous Cross-Party Support Reached on Students’ Welfare

26 JUNE 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A remit successfully passed by the National Party Conference on Saturdaymarks a full cross-party political consensus on the increase of weekly loan living costs, according to the Aotearoa Students’ Alliance.

The remit read, “That the National Party support the increase of the cap of student living costs loans proposed to meet increased cost of living”.

“After meeting with the Aotearoa Students’ Alliance, ACT, the Greens, Labour, Māori, New Zealand First and now National’s own party wing agree: the current level of living costs support for students is inadequate, incoherent and callously ignored", says Jack Close, spokesperson for the Aotearoa Students' Alliance.

“Loan living costs have only increased by 4.3 percent in the last five years, despite a 31.6 percent increase in rental prices in the same period. The current level of $178.81, adjusted by the barely-increasing CPI, doesn’t even cover rent, let alone power or food in our major cities where rent exceeds $200 just for a room.”

“This consensus comes after David Seymour, leader of the party known for a hard-line approach to public finance, pledged his support for increased living costs. Clearly, this is not a partisan issue. It is an issue that literally everyone agrees needs to be addressed.”

“With such unanimous support, it would be foolish for the Minister to continue his campaign against the wellbeing of students. Not only should he act, but he should act immediately.

“Anything less would be a disastrous miscarriage of politics.”

You can read a full article here: https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/26-06-2017/so-its-unanimous-all-parties-want-to-act-for-students-and-the-minister-must-respond/

ENDS

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