SENATE REPORT FAILS TO ADDRESS STAFF, STUDENT AND COMMUNITY CONCERNS ON VSU
August 11, 2005
The report of the Senate Inquiry into the Federal Government’s Higher Education Support Amendment (Abolition of Compulsory Up-Front Union Fees) Bill 2005, fails to seriously address the major concerns expressed by university staff, students and the community on the negative impact of the proposed legislation, the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) said on Thursday.
“The Committee was provided with a myriad of evidence on the detrimental effects of the so called voluntary student unionism legislation, including substantial reductions in the services offered, the potential loss of over 4000 jobs Australia wide and the loss of infrastructure for rural universities and their wider communities”, said Andrew Nette, NTEU Policy and Research Coordinator.
“The NTEU is particularly disappointed that the direct loss of over 4000 jobs Australia wide that will occur as a result of the legislation does not even rate a mention in the majority Senate report.”
“Rather than attempting to guarantee that students will be not be worse off under the proposed legislation, the majority report is instead content to rely on the belief that the ‘legislation rests on optimism that students will rise to the challenge’.”
“The report also calls on universities to ‘accept more responsibility for funding what they claim are core areas of university services’. Without an increase in Commonwealth funding, the NTEU does not see how already stretched university resources will be able to provide additional funding for students,” said Nette.
“While the Committee claims to respect the ‘ability of students to determine their own needs’, its report dismisses student testimony as ‘remarkably pessimistic’, and focuses instead on justifying its own extreme position.”
“The legislation that is being debated in Parliament today is not about freedom of association or voluntary membership. Rather it is about destroying the funding base of student organisations in an attempt to silence the political voice of students.”
“The NTEU hopes that the Senate will be able to see past the extreme position of a few Coalition members and instead vote in favour of the continued existence of strong, vibrant and independent student organizations,” said Nette.
Information and Comment:
Andrew Nette, NTEU Policy and Research Coordinator: (03) 9254 1910
Emma Cull, NTEU Policy and Research Officer: (03) 9254 1910