“We’ve made some changes in the last two years that have resulted in an additional 20,000 places at universities and polytechs and the like without putting any more money in,” tertiary education minister Steven Joyce told TVNZ’s Q&A programme on the weekend.

However TEU president Sandra Grey says that’s not something to be proud of.

“It’s the equivalent of someone proudly telling you they are driving their car many more miles without ever changing the oil. They might be saving money in the short term – but they are not left with a valuable asset for the future – instead they are heading for a major breakdown.”

“New Zealand has a great tertiary education system, and it is testament to the high calibre of the people in the system that they have been able to absorb an extra 20,000 students without any additional funding support. But Mr Joyce’s approach is simply not a sustainable way to run a high quality public tertiary education system.”