Prebble's Rebels today expressed disgust at the Alliance's tertiary policy,
saying it shows contempt for democracy.

Under the Alliance tertiary policy, membership of all students associations
would return to being compulsory. When Alliance MP Liz Gordon admitted that this will reverse the voluntary unionism at Auckland and Waikato Universities she is admitting that the Alliance would ignore the voice of students who chose voluntary membership in democratic referenda.

National Rebel President Clint Heine said "it is disgraceful that a
political party is threatening to meddle in the affairs of other
incorporated societies. The Alliance would crush the freedom of
association and silence students who voted for voluntary membership of
their students association."

"The Alliance is prepared to overturn democratic referendum results and
force students to participate in forums which are out of control and out of
touch with the students they are supposed to serve. This policy shows the
contempt which the Alliance/Labour bloc has for university students."

"Students at Auckland and Waikato have rejected compulsory membership of
their students associations. Who is Liz Gordon, or any MP, to overturn
that choice? Do the Alliance really expect students to believe that
politicians can make better decisions over which groups students should
belong to than the students themselves?"

Mr Heine said that the Alliance tertiary education policy sets a dangerous
precedent and asked "What other democratic election or referendum results
are the Alliance prepared to ignore? If Liz Gordon is going to force
students to join unions then where will she stop? Will everyone be forced
to join the Alliance party as well?"

ENDS

For more information, contact:
Clint Heine (+64) (03) 4779442
president@rebels.org.nz

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