Green Party announces a better deal for students

Written By: - Date published: 7:20 am, September 14th, 2017 - 8 comments
Categories: disability, education, election 2017, greens, tertiary education - Tags: , , ,

https://twitter.com/democracymum/status/907779507293061120

The Students Fair Deal package will,

  1. Make all post-graduate students eligible for student allowances, as a step towards a truly universal student allowance.
  2. Increase all student allowances by 20 percent.
  3. Make buses and trains free off-peak for all tertiary students and apprentices.
  4. Increase funding for tertiary institutions to make sure they are resourced to support students with disabilities.
  5. Restore the ability of students in long courses to access loans and allowances beyond seven years.

As well as these Green Party promises, we support Labour’s three free years of tertiary education plan.

Press release from greens.org.nz:

___________________________________________________________________________________________

The Green Party announced today that, in government, it will provide genuine support for students by bringing in a universal post-graduate student allowance and increasing allowance rates for all students.

“The rise in the cost of living and higher rents are making life increasingly hard for students, and the Green Party has a plan to fix that,” said Green Party leader James Shaw.

“We will create a universal allowance for all post-graduate students and increase the base student allowance rate by 20 percent, as a first step towards a universal allowance for all students.

“With the universal post-graduate allowance, all post-graduate students under 24 years old and not living with their parents will receive $237 a week.

“Raising all allowances means that all eligible students under 24 years old not living with their parents will receive $39.50 more every week than they do now, and students over 24 not living with their parents will receive an extra $47.50 a week.

“This will reverse National’s short-sighted cuts and help encourage more students into post-graduate study, which we need if we are going to grow a smart, innovative economy.

“In addition to the rises in allowances, we are announcing our entire students package, which will help every single person in tertiary study or training.

“Our student Green Card guarantees free off-peak transport for all tertiary students and apprentices, saving students an additional $33 a week on average.

“We are also committed to quadrupling funding for student disability support services to $112 per student with disabilities.

“Students learning crucial skills like medicine and dentistry should be supported to complete their degrees, so we will abolish the seven year cap on student loans.

“In government, the Green Party will support Labour’s plan for three free years of tertiary education.

“New Zealand needs smart tertiary policy that values the contribution students make to our economy and society, and in Government we will make that a reality,” said Mr Shaw

_________________________________________________________________________________________

The Green Party’s main Education Policy

8 comments on “Green Party announces a better deal for students ”

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  1. Antoine 1
    14 September 2017 at 9:52 am

    Some sensible ideas here

  2. greywarshark 2
    14 September 2017 at 11:07 am

    While I agree with this statement about students and having to borrow to get by it overlooks a deeper problem for others below students in their opportunities and above them in their difficulties.

    The problem that has been revealed is that the MSD Ministry of the Socially Dead
    has decided that some people still receiving some help may have to borrow to get by, and if they do, then there must be more where that came from and they drop the benefit to match the borrowing so that people in need can’t find a way out of their conditions. As soon as they get extra, the Ministry will administer a head chop and take them out.

    The nest step is where they are completely abandoned to a struggling person-hostile world and beg.

    Students might end up begging too and then there is a near-level playing field but if a student has their brain and self together enough to get some certificated training they might have the resilience to move up and away.

    But as I said it is a person-hostile world that government has created in NZ, (may the perpetrators receive their just desserts when they try to get into heaven). Listen to this man talk about the scam and corruption that the-rort-once-called-National has encouraged to happen here.
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201858441/migrant-worker-describes-modern-day-slave-scam

    RadioNZ
    Migrant worker describes ‘modern day slave’ scam
    From Morning Report, 7:10 am today

    Listen duration 5′ :14″
    A migrant worker who describes himself as a “modern day slave” says he’s blowing the whistle on an immigration scam that he believes is rampant. The man came to New Zealand from Sri Lanka. After five years on a work and student visa he was offered a well-paid job and a clear path to permanent residency within twelve months, so he signed a contract. But Danny says it soon became clear he’d signed up for a scam that involved a money merry-go-round to fool immigration authorities.

  3. Steve Wrathall 3
    14 September 2017 at 2:42 pm

    Hasn’t Shaw got the memo? Labour says no extra pocket money until 2021.

    • weka 3.1
      14 September 2017 at 3:06 pm

      The policy was released the other day, but even you can figure out that parties need to campaign on their values. Besides, there will be a post-election negotiation around which policies to enact and how to finance them.

      Or maybe you were just trolling, Count this as a warning, the closer we get to the election the less patience I find myself with.

      • Steve Wrathall 3.1.1
        14 September 2017 at 4:25 pm

        Right, so Labour’s promises of no further taxes beyond the six they’ve announced, may also be modified due to “post-election negotiations”

        • weka 3.1.1.1
          14 September 2017 at 4:32 pm

          Not sure what you are on about tbh. Any policy the Greens negotiate for could be paid for out of the existing budget.

          As for new taxes, feel free to present some evidence of precedence that one party saying x before an election means that those things can’t be negotiated on later by another party. It’s not like the Greens have been hiding anything, and NZ knows about the MoU and that there is an expectation of a L/G if the numbers allow.

          • tracey 3.1.1.1.1
            14 September 2017 at 4:35 pm

            Perhaps Steve knows that Act and National collude much more before an election than either party is honest about and bases his assumptions on that?

    • tracey 3.2
      14 September 2017 at 3:11 pm

      Still struggling to understand MMP after 20 years Steve.