TEU national secretary Sharn Riggs says that if the government wants to hold onto its tertiary teachers and researchers, it needs back up its rhetoric about closing the salary gap between New Zealand and Australia.

In preparation for today’s budget, TEU provided journalists with a comparison of salary rates between Australia’s mid-ranked University of Newcastle and a New Zealand equivalent, Massey University. It showed Massey University staff across the board were receiving significantly less than their Newcastle counterparts. For instance, the minimum stating rate for a Massey lecturer is NZ$62,992 while a Newcastle lecturer will start on no less than AU$72,909 (NZ$90,818). The Massey senior lecturer starting rate is NZ$78,941 while the Newcastle equivalent is AU$89,314 (NZ$111,320). For starting professors, the gap between the two countries is over NZ$50,000.

“Tax cuts won’t solve this pay differential,” said Ms Riggs. “The pay gap, as for other jobs, is upwards of 25 percent and rising. A five percent cut to the top tax bracket cannot close such a pay gap. All it will do is exacerbate inequality and encourage underfunding important public services like education.”

“Last year the government announced its intention to cut $55 million of funding that had been promised to help lift university salaries. The government needs to lift pay, not fiddle with taxes, if it wants to meet its goal of closing the pay gap with Australia,” said Ms Riggs.

Thanks to OHinOZ @Flickr for the photo