Treaty claim lodged to stop VSM
September 8th, 2011 at 12:00 pm by David FarrarLabour have failed with their year of filibustering the VSM bill. It completed the committee stages last night and is set down for third and final reading on Wed 28 September.
Hilarious to hear Labour MPs use 1984 speak in claiming the bill removes democratic rights from students. They would have you think our soldiers fought in WWII to defend the right for students to be forced against their will to fund a incorporated society that advocates for things they don’t support.
Having failed in the House, NZUSA have come up with a new strategy:
Maori student representatives have formally lodged a claim into the Waitangi Tribunal seeking an urgent Tribunal hearing into the impacts of ACT’s bill to end universal membership of students’ associations. The Tribunal has acknowledged receipt of the claim and is currently being considered as a single new claim. …
The claim seeks the Tribunal’s recommendation that the Bill is:
(a) abolished and
(b) that provision be made to protect tauira Māori, their local roopu, and their national representation.“NZUSA supports this claim. The government does not seem to care about the real impacts this will have on the ground. The disgraceful fact remains that the government has done no analysis or real consideration of what impact this Bill will have on student services, student representation, and the quality of education for students as a whole,” says NZUSA co-President David Do.
Mr Do is of course a former chair of Princess St Labour. NZUSA at times resembles the tertiary education wing of the Labour Party.
I have to say it was very forward-looking of Governor Hobson to have inserted the secret fourth article:
ARTICLE THE FOURTH
Her Majesty the Queen of England confirms and guarantees to the Chiefs and Tribes of New Zealand and to the respective families and individuals that if it establishes any tertiary educational institutes in New Zealand, it shall require all students thereof to become a member of an association of students, and pay whatever fee is demanded by said association, so the association can pay for taonga such as psychic hotlines.
I guess the next step after this will be for NZUSA to ask the United Nations to intervene.
September 8th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
With some of the bollocks that the Waitangi tribunal comes up with, they may have a good shot.
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
you saying that they haven’t already??
Vote:Most of their goons are here spouting forth shit to anyone that listens including our Govt. whilst they fill in time waiting for the rugby debacle.
September 8th, 2011 at 12:19 pm
Fine, all Maori can be compelled to join unions as is their right under the treaty. The rest of us get to choose.
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
Jesus Christ, this is something I would expect Billy T. or McPhail & Gadsby to come up with!
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 12:21 pm
I don’t understand why Labour is prepared to sacrifice what remains of their credibility on fighting this issue.
They’re starting to look a bit unhinged.
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 12:24 pm
They’re really prepared to die in a ditch over this issue eh? Lodging a treaty claim for this is really the equivalent of pushing the nuclear button. Just amazing.
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 12:25 pm
Clearly Labour rely more on extracting money from students (who on mass need to borrow to live) to fund their campaign than we realise. Like unions in general, the lowest earners are being taxed to keep the fat cats comfortable in their jobs.
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 12:32 pm
I’ve been a member of a Students’ Association in NZ and I’m very cynical about some of the claims being made by the anti-VSM people about the associations being a crucial/important pillar of the University. The Students’ Associations, from my experience, need to focus on actually providing things for the wider student population (rather than spend times in meetings discussing global politics). Will be interesting to see how VSM works in practice.
In terms of the treaty claim I would be interested and open-minded to hear the arguments. But on first glance it does not appear to be a particularly compelling case.
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 12:40 pm
GL
They are just recruitement and funding arms of the Labour party. Labour, being the dim-bulb socialists they are, think nothing of forcing people who need to borrow money to live to fund them.
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 12:49 pm
Without compulsion students cannot be free.
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 12:53 pm
One can smell the desperation on their breath.
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 12:53 pm
Still looking forward to the abolition of the Waitangi Tribunal and Maori only seats. Yea – Pigs Might Fly.
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 1:07 pm
Paulus – I think there will be a time when Maori seats are no longer (they were very nearly thrown out when MMP was introduced as recommended by the Royal Commission 1986). However, the Waitangi Tribunal is of on-going importance. As the settlement process comes to an end, the focus or the tribunal will switch from a historical focus to focussing on any alleged breaches of the treaty that occur in the current day.
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 1:10 pm
Clelia Opie paid that money back. VUWSA didn’t pay for any psychic hotlines.
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 1:11 pm
More embarassment by association for the idiot Goof.
The filibuster on this issue is bad enough, but it would now seem the the residual noise ringing in the voter’s ears in the current parliament’s final days is the utterly ridiculous claim that providing freedom of choice is an infringement of democratic rights.
Why did Gaffe not pull the pin on this filibuster foolery? Did he really think that this was a plus with the voters (well, those that remain) and in particular, traditional dyed-in-the-wool Liabore voters who think that students are a bunch of over-privileged wasters? Will this so very public wasting of parliamentary time stem the trickle of voters to the melons? Why Goofy, why? Has there ever been a bigger fuckwit in NZ politics?
And now, just to remind everyone that the next generation of Liabore MPs will be no different to the present generation, the Waitangi claim. Fantastic stuff. If I had known nothing of the last three years and somebody handed me a script of Goof’s foray into leadership, I would struggle to believe that it was all true. Not just a fuckwit, but a complete and utter dork.
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Peter – “One can smell the desperation on their breath.”
lol
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 1:21 pm
Seems to me that there is a pretty easy resolution to this. The Tiriti o Waitangi guarantees Maori the same rights as British subjects – presumably this includes freedom of assocation!
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 1:22 pm
What I want to know is how Act and particularly Roger Douglas managed to be so successful with promoting against the Student Unions. A caucus wide agenda and conspicuously conspiratal
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975, s 6:
But thanks for playing, Te Mana Akonga.
It’s also pretty ironic that it’s the current law, to be amended by this bill, that requires universities and other TEIs to recognise and officially deal with only one students’ association, meaning Rōpū (parallel Māori students’ associations) have faced difficulties in dealing with universities and seeking recognition. I would also note that Rōpū are already voluntary, although generally, of course, funded via the compulsory students’ associations.
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
Labour had to “die in a ditch” over this issue & it appears they now will.
Remember VUWSA “deciding” on behalf of all students not to lay a wreath on ANZAC Day? The chickens have come home to roost comrades. Some of us don’t forget that shit. What about the “pimped out” VUWSA van simonway?
It shouldn’t be rocket science to manage student services et al without the involvement of student unions.
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 1:28 pm
I thought article four said… Gimme gimme gimme
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 1:53 pm
@ Graeme Edgeler you are obviously unaware that this is supposed to be a fact free zone.
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 2:07 pm
Long past time to consign the treaty back to the oblivion Labour resurrected it from.
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 2:22 pm
Nothing the left do surprises me.
cheers
David Prosser
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 2:51 pm
I can see two possible reasons why Labour has tried to block the VSM Bill.
The first, which I think is more likely, is that they have decided that they are going to lose the coming election, and nothing they do will make the outcome worse, so they might as well use what little influence they have to protect the narrow self-interest of their younger members by trying to maintain compulsory student unions for another year or two.
The second is that they are delusional, actually believe their own rhetoric, and truly think that maintaining compulsory student unions is the latest of a long line of battles to be fought with the entrenched ruling classes.
But it would not take much evidence to convince me that the second reason was, in fact, the real one.
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 3:34 pm
Grant Robinson would have been telling his student union chums he was going to be their saviour, and I suspect he would have been staking some of his mana in the caucus on defeating it this. So seeing this bill pass to law is a double-happy for me.
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 3:57 pm
Does this mean Labour would support a motion to the Waitangi Tribunal for compulsory unionism on all maori (not just student unions, but work one too?)
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 5:34 pm
I agree that this is anti-democratic. And so it should be. Joining a student union shouldn’t be a democratic choice it should be an individual choice. I can think of no good reason why a majority of *voting* students should be able to expropriate money from their fellow students so they can have a sausage sizzle.
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 5:53 pm
George: Sadly I think it is the first option…in my short time in parliament I came to the view – reluctantly and rather unwillingly I have to say – that the lefties really ARE about cynically keeping their voting base poor and ignorant, and reliant on them. The only other alternative is that they (the lefties) really believe that – for example – young unskilled kids are better off sitting on the dole watching TV and becoming unemployable than being employed for less than the minimum wage.
It was rapidly obvious from seeing and hearing them both en masse and individually that they are not all stupid, and therefore they simply could not believe the crap they advocated.
GL: It is my view that the Treaty of Waitangi Act and the establishment of the Tribunal will, in time, be seen as the very worse thing the third Labour government did. The treaty was when it was signed, and remains, what Prendergast CJ called it 100 years earlier ” a simple nullity”. A nullity which due to political and judicial stupidity will blow the country apart.
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 6:08 pm
You are talking about future Labour politicians.
Lying, cheating and gaming the system is second nature to them.
They will collect, no matter what.
Just change the name from “Student Association Fee” into “Student service fee”.
On the Auckland Universtity website they are quite open about it.
http://www.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/cs-general-information-about-fees
The student services fee allows access to and/or subsidises the following services:
Student services fees
A long list and the last one………..tada
Provision for the continuation of services previously supplied by AUSA (eg, advocacy services, cultural clubs, sports clubs, social activities, information services, student representation, student help centres).
And what are you going to do about it?
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 6:09 pm
Messege to Liarbour and all Labour voters who support the VSM Bill:
Vote:The average guy who works hard and pays most of the TAX in this country has had a fucking gutsfull of your shit. Time to shape up. We are sick of paying for childish bullshit.
See you at the Polls on Election Day iceholes
September 8th, 2011 at 7:10 pm
BREAKING NEWS !!!
PM John Key Announces NZ to Celebrate it’s European Heritage anually beginning today
For the first time in history the nation of NZ will make a public declaration of deep gratitude to all it’s European forefathers for their huge contribution to the building of this nation, by introducing amongst other measures yet to be announced, the nationwide celebration of English Language Week.
Prior to the colonization of NZ by English speaking European nations, life in NZ was extremely primitive. However the arrival of the Europeans brought with them the knowledge and technical innovation, not only to preserve the nation but also to save the Maori people from extinction.
Running water, drainage & sanitation, efficient transportation (eg: the wheel), technical & mechanical modernization, international trade, and eventually electricity, machinery, refrigeration, telecommunications, and numerous other innovative breakthrough’s in the fields of engineering, medicine, science, the arts, education, politics & global trade have all been huge contributing factors to NZ’s success on the global stage.
The last 200 years has seen a phenomenal rate of growth for NZ. What was once considered by some to be a very poorly drained paddock, has since been transformed into an international award-winning nation.
We warmly welcome the continued immigration to NZ by members of English speaking European nations who have served us faithfully as our closest allies and trade partners over the last two centuries . . . and on behalf of Kiwis everywhere we’d like to take this opportunity to wish our English speaking “cousins” a Fair Dinkum, Best of British, Yankee Doodle Doo!!!
By Speech Writer extraordinaire. Rose.
http://www.nzcpr.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=232&sid=679787f7bc36d94170ad9d2b8656be24&p=37244#p37244
Vote:September 8th, 2011 at 10:16 pm
I had to read this twice to make sure it wasn’t from Dim Post.
Turns out it was more likely from Margaret Mutu!
Vote: