Govt stands firm on student unionism
June 15, 2005 - 4:25PM
The federal government has rejected a last ditch plea by student leaders from universities across the country to soften its stance on the introduction of voluntary student unionism.
A 30-strong delegation of heads of student organisations, led by National Union of Students (NUS) president Felix Eldridge, arrived at Parliament House in Canberra to make their appeal to Education Minister Brendan Nelson.
But Dr Nelson ruled out any compromise, saying the government is not entertaining any sort of retreat from the legislation which has been presented in parliament.
"Whilst there are some people around the country who seem to want to see some softening in relation to voluntary student unionism, under no circumstances ... will the government consider any sort of retreat from the current position," he told reporters.
Under laws expected to pass once the government gains control of the Senate in July, students will no longer have to join student unions and pay compulsory union fees.
The changes would mean the introduction of user pays to subsidised services such as childcare, health care, food, entertainment, sporting clubs, accommodation advice, counselling and student support services.
The Australian Olympic Committee has said scrapping compulsory union fees for tertiary students could take $100 million out of university sports programs around the country.
NUS NSW President Sarah-Jane Collins said while ending voluntary student unionism will affect each campus and its student associations differently, no-one would benefit.
"In general, student associations expect to face huge revenue losses, serious membership retention issues and a significant drop in the level of advocacy, services and representation compared to what is currently provided," she said.
"Many associations are revenue neutral, not-for-profit, service-based organisations that exist purely to provide support and services for students on their campus."
The NUS is pushing for greater dialogue between the government and universities, their administration and student unions - all of which are opposed to the legislation in its current form.
But Dr Nelson firmly ruled out any review.
"The government and the Liberal Party has, for a long period of time, believed very strongly that students should be free ... to choose whether or not they will join a student union guild or association," he said.
"In this day and age, students are perfectly able and capable of making decisions as to where and how they will spend their money.
"They have anywhere from $140 to $600 a year forcibly removed from them when they enrol at a university (when) what they primarily want is an education."
Dr Nelson said he encouraged students to join sporting, cultural, social, and political organisations but under no circumstances should they be forced.
He said it was the third occasion the legislation had been put up in its present form, including once just before the last election.
As such, all coalition candidates who contested the last election had done so on a platform of voluntary student unionism being introduced.
