VSM Bill stuck in select committee
Just to remind you all, Sir Roger Douglas’ Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill is still lingering around New Zealand student politics like a pungent odour. Stinking up the future of student politics, this bill and the uncertainty for students’ associations is hanging about.
If passed, Roger Douglas’s bill would see voluntary student membership (VSM) become the norm at universities nationwide. This would then force students to choose if they want to join the students’ association or not.
The current system allows students to choose to no longer be a member of their association if they have ideological objections.
Can this bill make it through the lengthy and testing legislation process in the New Zealand Government? The process has seen it through its introduction to the House, where it became publicly available and a “formal legislative proposal”.
After a successful introduction and first reading of the bill, it was voted for and referred to the Education and Science Select Committee. The select committee is currently inside their six-month time period that is given as a time frame before reporting back to the House on the proposed legislation.
The select committee began hearing submissions on the bill last month and is expected to present a report, including “recommended amendments shown and a ‘commentary’, which is the committee’s narrative explanation of its recommendations and the issues it considered”.
The select committee’s report is due to the House of Representatives on 30 September this year.
More information on the bill can be found here:
Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill
First Reading on the Bill
Education and Science Select Committee
Progress of Legislation
More information on VUWSA and its services – http://www.vuwsa.org.nz/