Mackey Moana: Education Amendment Bill (No 4) — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Mackey Moana: Education Amendment Bill (No 4) — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 16 August 2011. Volume:675;Page:20846. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
MOANA MACKEY (Labour) 
: 
 I think the contribution from the member who has just taken her seat Louise Upston shows why this country is still in recession. While she pats herself on the back for a job well done New Zealanders are suffering and our economy is flailing. The Government is sitting over there and in a self-congratulatory manner saying “job well done”—as George W Bush said “mission accomplished”—and I think the member might want to perhaps extend herself beyond her research unit notes go and talk to some real New Zealanders and see how they are doing given that contribution.  
I will talk about the issue of student levies; the Minister for Tertiary Education briefly touched on it in his contribution. He said they are on the side of the students. The member who has just taken her seat said: “the Government is on the side of the students.” She said the Government is great for students and that the New Zealand University Students’ Association thinks it is fantastic. Well let us look at why we need to put a cap on levies.  
Hon Tau Henare 
: That’s not right. 
MOANA MACKEY 
: That is what she said. Anyway— 
Louise Upston 
: Here is the quote. I was quoting.  
MOANA MACKEY 
: Oh it is a quote. Let us look at why we are putting a cap on levies. We are putting a cap on levies because universities have been shifting money from that fund to pay for core things like staffing because of the funding squeeze under this National Government. I remember in the first—[ 
Interruption 
] The Minister in the chair the Minister for Tertiary Education can do little vomit gestures with his finger. He is so mature! That is what the Minister was doing. He is now trying to say he was scratching his lip but I saw it.  
The fact is I say to the Minister that in this Government’s first Budget one of the first things it cut was the funding that universities received in order to be able to match international salaries for people whom we bring to New Zealand to add value to our tertiary education system. It was a common practice. That was one of the first things that went. That meant that if universities around New Zealand wanted to maintain their very good standing in the world and wanted to attract these high achievers in the academic world—researchers—then they needed to find the funding from elsewhere. That funding and a number of other things ended up being squeezed from university budgets. We found that these student levies were being used as a de facto way of covering staffing costs—covering the core things that our universities carry out.  
The cap on levies is not going on because this Government loves students. The cap on levies is going on because the Government is desperately trying to put its fingers in all the holes as the dam is breaking because of a lack of funding in our universities. We have to ask what is going to give. If there is not enough money across the board and we are now saying that universities have this pot of money this pot of money and this pot of money and they can no longer transfer across what will have to give? If the Minister restricts these student levies what is going to give? We know what is going to give because it is an issue that we have been debating in the House for some time—that is student services. Those are the kinds of services that students rely on not just services that make their tertiary education experience better or more valuable but the food banks that students associations run the representation that students associations give and the counselling services that students associations provide. These are the things that are going to give— 
Carmel Sepuloni 
: The hardship grants. 
MOANA MACKEY 
: —the hardship grants that students can apply for. There was the extracurricular tutoring that went on in universities not to mention the health centres and all those other things as well.  
This is particularly important because we are talking about increasing transparency in this part of the Education Amendment Bill (No 4) and about students having more say. Well that is what the Minister says—that students will have more say in terms of the way this money is spent what it is spent on and what the level of the levy will be. Who will the Minister consult when students associations are gone? These are democratically elected associations representing students. They are the first port of call for anyone who wants to consult the student body— 
Colin King 
: Quasi-unions. 
MOANA MACKEY 
: I mean this is just ridiculousness. Colin King said: “Quasi-unions.” I respect that member but what a ridiculous statement. Is the reason National does not like students associations that sometimes they are called student unions? That is the kind of thing I expect from Tau Henare and Paul Quinn sitting back there but not from Colin King. That is a really disappointing statement. 
Paul Quinn 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. It is about relevancy. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: That is a fair call—relevancy. 
MOANA MACKEY 
: I could not possibly speak to Paul Quinn’s relevancy Mr Chair. I was interjected on and I was responding.  
Students associations are part of providing the transparency required in this part of the bill. The Minister has talked in this part about students having a greater say in how the levies are set and what the levies are spent on.