Locke Keith: Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Locke Keith: Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:675;Page:21084] 
KEITH LOCKE (Green) 
: 
 The Green Party supports the amendment put forward by Grant Robertson to the Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill. His amendment is intended to make sure that details are provided to students associations of the people who might become members and people who are members. I think that is critical. If we look at other associations such as unions and professional associations we see that part of the standard arrangement—particularly these days when people are quite mobile and change addresses and all the rest of it—is that the employing agency often provides those details to the association or union. I think that is the appropriate thing. The Green Party will be supporting that amendment. 
Heather Roy said that way back—and it would be interesting to know how far back—student unions were voluntary. Of course tertiary institutions and universities have undergone a lot of changes. At one time they were very much elite organisations. I would imagine that the students associations would have had to battle for recognition battle for rights battle to get a more comprehensive membership etc. and there has been a very positive evolution over the years. The speeches given earlier prompted me to think back to when I went to the University of Canterbury many years ago and joined the students association as I think everyone did at that stage. The services provided were not terribly wide ranging if I recall correctly compared with today when one goes to a university and there are all sorts of counselling services and a myriad of other services available to students that were not previously available. That is a step forward that is progress and now it seems that after this bill we might be going backwards where there would be less provision of services by student unions. Sometimes that slack will be taken up by the university administration as a whole but probably in a less adequate way. 
As other speakers have pointed out those services will not be under the control of the students association and will not be informed by the students association. Students associations better understand the needs of the students in order to shape these particular services. I think that is important particularly for people who are sometimes a bit alienated and might not necessarily join the student union first off if it is a voluntary system. They might be a bit alienated and there only for certain lectures or whatever but they are often the very students who get into financial and emotional trouble. They need professional help the student services and the community of the students association to support them and now they might be the very people who miss out. To have a well-resourced students association will help enable everyone to be part of the students association and to understand that they have access to the services because they are being informed of them—perhaps all the time with modern communications emails and all the rest of it. That will lead to a much better situation for individuals and for the students association as a collective entity. 
All round I cannot see why we are changing the status quo. I have not really heard an argument explaining why we need to make this move except if there is a political agenda to weaken the political heft of students that is currently in evidence through students associations. That is very important because universities and students in particular are often the conscience of society. We see all the former students association officials around this Chamber and we see that they are very much making a contribution to our democracy. If we knock off that channel of people into public life and into Parliament by weakening the students associations then we will have a much less informed and vibrant society and indeed Parliament. Thank you.