End Student Poverty
Why is it normal and accepted for students to live in poverty? Cold flats and two-minute noodles are viewed as a rite of passage, and even looked on with nostalgia by those whose student days are past and who are lucky enough to now live comfortably. But this rite of passage and the “character” that […]
Student Activism Revival
An exciting development of 2023 has been the return of university student protest, with a wave of protests erupting onto campuses across Aotearoa in response to proposed staff and course cuts. While we have seen outbreaks of student discontent on campus in recent years, such as the “New University” protests sparked by specialist library closures […]
Labour: Stop Pretending and Actually Fund Tertiary Education!
Aotearoa’s universities are under threat. In October 2022, Auckland University of Technology (AUT) vice-chancellor Damon Salesa announced an intent to cut 170 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff across a range of academic areas (Morton, 2022). 90 staff accepted voluntary redundancy before AUT was knocked back by the Employment Relations Authority, forcing the university to commence […]
Education in Crisis
Photo Credit: John Tregonning Introduction After 30 years of neoliberal cuts and running education like a business, the chickens have come home to roost. Secondary and tertiary students are looking around wondering whether their courses will be offered next year, or whether they will have a teacher or lecturer in front of their classroom or […]
$355 Million for Tertiary Sector Reappropriated
Lower enrolment rates saw money syphoned away from unis The below article was originally published in University of Otago student magazine ‘Critic Te Arohi’ and is republished here with permission. Otago Uni Associate Professor Brian Roper claims that $355 million budgeted towards tertiary education is going unspent. This is enough money to bail out Otago, […]
Students Against Cuts – Statement of Support
A statement from the Victoria University International Socialist Club, the VUW club of the International Socialist Organisation. This week the Victoria University International Socialist Club has come together with other student groups to help launch the campaign group Students Against Staff Cuts (SAC). The Labour government needs to fund universities adequately. These institutions are not […]
Labour and National Agree on Neoliberal Housing Plan
In a nauseating spectacle on 19 October Labour’s Megan Woods and David Parker went on air with National’s Judith Collins to announce their cross-party agreement on a change in the law to allow higher-density building development without the need for a consent process. The fact that National are a partner in the Resource Management (Enabling […]
The Struggle at Our Universities
In mid-April the University of Waikato announced plans to cut up to twelve jobs from its Management courses, following on from six cuts in its Science faculty already. Across the sector in 2020-2021 hundreds of jobs have been cut. Factoring in “voluntary” redundancies, jobs have gone in significant, damaging numbers: 300 at Auckland, 71 at […]
Labour’s 23 March Housing Announcement
The housing crisis is without doubt the most grievous of Labour’s failings. Super-inflated rents and mortgages are claiming ever greater portions of incomes. Inequality is worsened as workers are bled dry by landlords and the banks. Every day the media carry news items on the crisis. To deflect responsibility falling on her government, Ardern claims […]
The Resource Management Act Is No Good, but Beware its Replacement
If you were to only listen to the media pundits, the National and Act party spokespeople, and the various heads in the property development sector, you would be forgiven for thinking that the Resource Management Act 1991, or RMA for short, was drafted by Satan himself. At the very least it seems to be universally […]
