Kedgley Sue: Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Kedgley Sue: Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:670;Page:16876] 
SUE KEDGLEY (Green) 
: 
 Darren Hughes really hit the nail on the head. The real purpose of the Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill is very very clear. The purpose is to suppress the student voice suppress student activism suppress student politics and kill off student life so that when the National Government—next year if it is re-elected—rolls out its next round of anti-student anti-democratic cuts such as removing the clause on interest-free student loans there will be no students left to protest and demonstrate against it. That is what this bill is about. It is about trying to suppress democracy and kill off student politics so that when the Government rolls out some of its awful policies there will be no students left to demonstrate against them. 
Like others in this Chamber I was a member of the student executive of Victoria University; I was a member for 2 years. It was the most politicising experience of my life. But that is what the Government does not want. It does not want to have a student executive that politicises people. I got on to the executive as a rather naive young woman of 18 and I became quickly radicalised. We had marches on Parliament—of course in those days it was a political place—and we had anti - Viet Nam protests. It was very exciting. It was certainly the highlight of my days at Victoria University and it radicalised me. That is what the bill is intended to suppress. Admittedly some student unions are not very political at the moment but they have the potential to become so. The Government wants to kill off that voice and suppress student life so there will be no one left. Like getting rid of all those councils in Auckland and like getting rid of Environment Canterbury it is just another way of suppressing democracy and suppressing dissent in New Zealand. 
Students are extremely poor so if they are given a choice whether to pay voluntarily to join the student union the chances are they will not. They would probably rather spend the money on a keg of beer or on paying for their accommodation. When this bill goes through the student union will slowly wither away—like the Communist State—and with it student life and many of those wonderful services that student unions provide: the student gym health services student representatives on the university councils and all of those things. Those things are integral to student life are part of the whole campus and give the campus vibrancy but will slowly disappear. 
I remember going to Victoria University in the 1990s at the height of Rogernomics. I went around the campus and it was as dead as a dodo. I did an interview for a magazine and there was nothing. The only club that really had any members was the tramping club. There was nothing else. It was just awful. People said it was boring it was dull and there was no student life. That was the effect under Rogernomics. That is what will happen again under this legislation. Mr Hughes talked about the chilling effect that will happen on our campuses. There will be no one left to protest against the appalling policies that the Government has on the back-burner ready to roll out after the next election. 
There is no need for the bill. As others have said there is already freedom of association. Students can have a referendum but they do not want the bill. It is yet another example of the Government bulldozing through its changes and refusing to listen to people particularly to the students. It is causing cynicism and alienation amongst New Zealanders that a Government is successively ignoring the wishes of the people—87 percent of students do not want this bill. Students want a student union. They do not want the bill. They do not want this so-called freedom of association bill.