“From next year, five per cent of tertiary providers’ tuition funding will be at risk based on their performance against a clear set of achievement indicators. This will incentivise institutions to perform and will drive value for money.”

Mr Joyce also said a re-elected government would collect and publish employment data for graduates of each qualification, and investigate, as the focus on quality and outcomes improves performance, the possibility of “relaxing funding caps for high quality providers and allowing them more flexibility to adjust their offerings and grow their institutions.”

TEU national president Dr Sandra Grey criticised the policy saying that financially punishing institutions that take on the hardest-to-teach students, that focus on foundation studies and second-chance learning would defeat the purpose of education.

“Education must be measured on more than just how much money you earn at the ‘end’ of learning.”

However, Prime Minister John Key continued to imply that the current tertiary education system was not providing enough value for students and tax payers and that this policy would provide more value.

“Tertiary education is a passport to higher skills, higher wages, higher productivity and higher growth for our economy,” says Mr Key.

Mr Joyce noted:

“We’ve funded more places at universities, polytechs and private training providers without big budget increases.”

The government also intends to “improve the governance and operations of publicly-owned tertiary institutions, and to continue to remove differences in funding treatment between public and private providers.

It will limit Level 1 and 2 tertiary provision to those who haven’t previously achieved Level 1 and 2 qualifications at school or at tertiary level – with the exception of ESOL and Māori language courses.

It’s election year – Who cares?

Sandra Grey, President Tertiary Education Union

Commentators are lamenting the fact that with the world cup rugby on, that’s where all attention is diverted. This means no one cares about the election at the moment.

But there is deeper problem and that is the number of people who are not enrolled or don’t vote if they are enrolled.

• 71% of 18-24 year olds NOT enrolled
• About 10% of whole population are not enrolled.
• In terms of our membership, around 10 per cent of members details do not match information held by the electoral agencies – so may not be enrolled correctly or at all.
• Also there are 650,000 enrolled voters who did not vote last election

This disengagement from politics threatened legitimacy of system and immediately impacts on outcome of elections. So how do we get people interested, enrolled, and voting?

The only way to make people care about politics and election is to make it real for them. People want to talk about how politics has impacted upon them, their families, their friends, and their communities. For our members and the students we teach this means talking about a range of political decisions that have impacted upon our daily lives inside universities. Firstly, we need to talk to our members about the cuts in real funding which we’ve seen under the John Key government. And the news from Treasury figures just gets worse if you look out to the next election in 2014.

What is the impact of this type of under-funding? Most staff see its effects on a daily basis – an increase in workloads, rising stress, overcrowded classes, job losses, and cuts to core services. Certainly we can see very clearly in Tertiary Education Commission figures that there has been rise in the student:staff ratio. This has real impacts on staff and students in our tertiary education sector.

But it’s just not in terms of financial investment that the National-led government has let down New Zealand’s universities, polytechnics, and waananga. There have been changes to the way decision-making is carried out that is detrimental to the tertiary sector. First of all the government changed the composition of the Councils of polytechnics, stripping out staff and student representation. Why does this matter? Because our professional expertise and knowledge should be acknowledged and incorporated into decision-making.

But more recently the John Key government passed the Voluntary Student Membership Act which will effectively collapse student associations around NZ. And who will have to pick up the extra work generated because there is no longer a sound student-run volunteer base for dealing with a range of issues faced by students – staff. This will add a burden to already overworked staff.

So we need to make all staff and students to speak up for education. We also need to convince our families and friends to be passionate about public tertiary education. We need them to know the tertiary education sector is in crisis and this has implications for them and for. There is no doubt that poorly devised government policy is impacting upon our sector and this has resulted in concerted attacks on the tertiary education sector. As a result the conditions of work in the tertiary education sector, crucial conditions that make the sector function, are being attacked by employers in order to meet the government’s drive for greater productivity and economic efficiency.

What can help you to speak up for public tertiary education this election? We have a public tertiary education policy for the TEU which covers the broad philosophical ideals that can be used to defend public education. You can find lots of examples in Tertiary Update of attacks on our conditions of work and the job losses that have come about through underfunding which you can share with people. You can take time to point out that our conditions of work are the students’ conditions of learning. When the government fundamentally changes the staffing levels and conditions of staff, this impacts on the quality of learning that can occur. The only thing that holds New Zealand’s tertiary sector together at the moment is good will of staff who passionately defend quality education and go beyond the call of duty to deliver. And you can stress to all voter that the social and economic advancement means NZ should invest in good quality public education.

And what sorts of actions are needed in the lead up to the election. We need TEU members to take a little bit of time to increase awareness of the difficulties facing staff and students in the tertiary sector. This could mean simply putting up a poster (say the illustrations above) on a noticeboard in your institution, showing just what effect underfunding has. You could perhaps take the time to talk with colleagues about the impact of government policies. And most of all spend a little bit of time talking with friends and families about what it means for tertiary education to be under such strain – what it means for them. If you’re are feeling energetic, what about popping along to a candidate forum and political parties what they plan to do for education as a whole, and tertiary education in particular.

Just take some time between now and November 26 to speak up for tertiary education.

Nearly 12,000 Indian students enrol in tertiary education in New Zealand, making India New Zealand’s third largest educational market. AUT Vice Chancellor Derek McCormack told TVNZ that Indian university students bring in over $1 billion a year in tuition fees and living expenses.

“They are very big business.”

There is increasing tertiary sector collaboration between New Zealand and Indian institutions. At least six of the eight New Zealand universities have one or more formal links with Indian institutions – activity includes delivery offshore, academic and student exchange, and research collaboration. Polytechnics have also been active in developing Indian partnerships. In total there are about 30 partnerships between Indian and New Zealand tertiary institutions representing a range of educational linkages from academic research collaborations to certificate and diploma level twinning programmes.

However, TEU president Sandra Grey says the danger with this set of negotiations, as with all trade negotiations is that they treat education as a tradable commodity.

“We support closer educational ties between New Zealand and Indian educators and institutions. But we can do that without treating education as if it is a private, for-profit commodity. We don’t need a trade agreement, we need a quality public education and collaboration agreement,” said Dr Grey.

Thanks to Trey Ratcliff @ Flickr for the photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms/2175431702

Prime Minister John Key said yesterday that, if re-elected, a National-led Government would introduce further changes to employment law.

National Radio reported that the Prime Minister was reluctant to spell out what changes National might make to employment law, refusing to say whether they include further restrictions on collective bargaining. However, he says that trade unions will not be happy.

Journalists and unions are speculating that one likely post-election policy that a National-led government might introduce is their 2008 policy to enable workers to bargain collectively without having to belong to a union. After the 2008 election, the National-led government assured the Council of Trade Unions that it would not proceed with this policy during this term.

Peter Conway, CTU Secretary, said, “we have already seen a raft of changes including removal of appeal rights against unfair dismissal, restrictions on union access to workplaces and making the fourth week of annual leave tradable for cash. There is legislation in Parliament making meal and refreshment breaks negotiable and the ACC scheme is under sustained attack.”

“The Government should spell out the further changes they are planning so that voters have a clear understanding of what they are planning if re-elected.”

TEU national secretary Sharn Riggs says that the changes the government introduced last year are already encouraging some employers in the tertiary education sector to behave poorly towards their unionised employees.

“Some employers are already attempting to limit union members’ ability to meet with their union representatives. Some have refused to rule out using the 90 day fire at will provisions and some are trying to make it harder for unions to recruit new members.”

Also in Tertiary Update this week:

1. Overseas academics warned off University of Auckland
2. Aoraki go ahead for one compressed course only
3. Few women in industry training after school

Other news

Ready2Go campaign update: Te Toi Ahurangi and National Council sing their support for the Ready2Go campaigners, while TEU NorthTec members launch their Ready2Go campaign with a barbeque for students.

If New Zealand universities are going to take world rankings seriously, they do need to act on the parts of the ranking methodology which they can control. The most obvious and influential of these is the student:academic staff ratio. They need to tell the government, which currently seems fixated on export education rather than high quality domestic tertiary education. The best thing it can do to promote New Zealand education providers overseas is invest in staff, and thus reduce the student: staff ratios, so that our universities have a chance climb up the rankings again – Sandra Grey blogs for Education Directions

Staff at the University of Auckland are threatening to stop teaching some classes and withhold students’ exam results as part of an on-going industrial dispute. More than 900 academic staff have voted to step up industrial action if a mediation meeting planned for this month is not productive, alarming students who are worried about the implications – New Zealand Herald

The Australian National University had to boost security for nine climate change scientists and administration staff following death threats. Universities in Victoria and NSW have also acknowledged threats to staff involved in the climate area. Universities Australia strongly condemned the threats as a fundamental attack on intellectual inquiry and National Tertiary Education Union president Jeannie Rea said public figures needed to “recognise that the debate around climate science could easily veer into dangerous territory” - The Australian

The negotiations between the Government and the SFWU/PSA over a settlement of the sleepover minimum wage dispute are continuing while the Supreme Court has set 7 September for the final round in the legal battle - SFWU

Let us not forget that ACC is still frequently acclaimed as a world-beating innovation. Making Accident Compensation insurance contestable has long been an ideological holy grail for both the National Party and the business sector, so the decision to open the workers’ account to private insurers comes as no surprise. But it’s hard to think of a less appropriate time to create more uncertainty in the relationship between business, workers, the insurance sector and the Government – The Listener

The Australian government has dropped the contentious system of ranking academic journals and assessing academics based on their ability to publish in the top-ranked publications. Previously, journals were ranked either A*, A, B or C -The Conversation

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TEU Tertiary Update is published weekly on Thursdays and distributed freely to members of the Tertiary Education Union and others. You can subscribe to Tertiary Update by email or feed reader. Back issues are available on the TEU website. Direct inquiries should be made to Stephen Day.

Thanks to nznationalparty at Flickr for the photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/nznationalparty/2408460153/in/set-72157600490030671/

CTU Media Release

8 June 2011

PM Signals More Attacks on Work Rights

The CTU has said it is not surprised that the Prime Minister has signaled further attacks on work rights if they are elected in November.

John Key told the Seafood Industry Council conference today that the Government is planning further changes to employment law but would not say what they would be.

Peter Conway, CTU Secretary, said “we have already seen a raft of changes including removal of appeal rights against unfair dismissal, restrictions on union access to workplaces and making the fourth week of annual leave tradable for cash. There is legislation in Parliament making meal and refreshment breaks negotiable and the ACC scheme is under sustained attack.”

“The Government should spell out the further changes they are planning so that voters have a clear indication.”

“Every change enacted so far has made things tougher for workers when things were already tough from the recession.”

Peter Conway said, “the Government cannot claim that the 90 day provision has helped people into jobs. Since the Government first introduced this law youth unemployment has gone up from 17.9 percent to 27.5 percent and the number of long term unemployed has gone up from 19,200 to 40,200 people.”

“The cost of living has gone up, wages are not keeping up, and meanwhile the Government keeps attacking the rights of New Zealand workers. What we need instead is to lift incomes through a minimum wage of $15 an hour, a stronger platform for industry collective bargaining, and increases in productivity which are shared with workers.”

“Attacking work rights while giving tax cuts to those on the highest incomes is not a constructive plan for New Zealand and is fundamentally unfair.”

Posted via email from TEU

With less than two months to the Budget, Tertiary Update takes an extended look at what we can expect from the 19 May Budget and what we might need to see to ensure that our excellent tertiary education system is able to flourish.

In this week’s Tertiary Update:

1. Previous budgets
2. Earthquakes and austerity
3. Some big numbers
4. Specific issues:
   • Trades training
   • Student loans
   • The Tertiary Education Strategy
   • Tertiary education’s role in the recession
5. Other news

Previous budgets

For tertiary education the three defining features of the current government’s previous budgets have been::

• cuts around the edges of funding to programmes that the government has not valued;
• a commitment to the previous government’s capped EFTS policy leading to a failure to fund the number of people who would like to study; and
• the introduction of greater amounts of performance-based funding.

Inevitably, pressure has seeped from government funding cuts through into employment negotiations, with sustained attempts to diminish pay and conditions for those working in the sector.

After two and half years in office the government has put in place most of its stated policy framework for the tertiary education sector, so there are unlikely to be significant policy-driven changes coming from this year’s budget.

However, there could well be further capping of funding compared to the number of potential students. The government is preparing New Zealanders for an austere budget, but it has several times indicated that it will spare the Vote Education budget line from the worst of the cuts.

Earthquakes and austerity

Just before the second major Christchurch earthquake the minister of finance, Bill English said:

“The Budget this year will reduce new operating spending to around $800 million to $900 million a year, from the current allowance of $1.1 billion. We will prioritise new spending on health and education and set a path to meaningful surplus in 2014/15 – a year earlier than forecast.”

One month and one major earthquake later, the Prime Minister John Key said the government was abandoning plans to spend an extra $800 million in this year’s Budget because of the cost of the Christchurch earthquake.

Mr Key said the government still expected to increase funding to health and education but warned that money would now have to come from cuts in other areas, rather than through new funding – and the increases would not be as big as earlier indicated.

The Prime Minister has effectively said there are now two pools of money for the budget. One, education and health, will get between $600-800 million in new spending. The other, everything else, will suffer $600-800 million of cuts to pay for new spending in health and education.

Some big numbers

So what does $600-800 million of new spending mean for the health and education vote appropriations? The most recent Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) released in December last year shows education spending increasing from an actual expenditure in 2009 of $11.5 billion to a forecast $11.8 billion in 2010, up $324 million.

BEFU forecasts spending to grow a further $200 million this year and then remain relatively stagnant – at about $12 billion – until at least 2014.

Currently the government spends about $4.1 billion of that $12 billion on tertiary education. Most of that remaining $8 billion goes to compulsory education with early childhood education receiving much of the remainder. The budgeted increase for the entire education budget of 2.8 percent roughly keeps pace with inflation if GST is not accounted for.

The health budget is also roughly $12 billion and BEFU also forecasts that it increased in both 2010 (by about $770 million) and 2011 (by about $900 million).

However, the situation is not as good for tertiary education. BEFU currently forecasts that tertiary education funding will fall every year between 2009 and 2014. Most of this reduction is due to a tightening in eligibility for student loans, but it also includes falls in funding for tuition and other tertiary education spending. This BEFU is predicated on student numbers remaining at record high numbers, but not growing, due to the government’s EFTS cap funding policy.

Indeed, in cabinet papers relating to last year’s budget tertiary education minister Steven Joyce noted:

“The recession has increased demand for tertiary education in 2009 and 2010, and the increased demand is forecast to remain high in 2011 and beyond. At the same time the current funded baseline of places at ITPs and universities decreases from its current level in 2011.”

This was in contrast to public statements that high student numbers were a temporary circumstance that the sector simply needs to weather.

Therefore, the current BEFU see health and education receiving over a billion dollars of new spending this year and next and yet both sectors cope with inflation. It also forecasts that tertiary education, which sits within the larger education budget, will still face significant budget cuts.

Now the government is suggesting that new spending for health and education will be 20-40 percent less than forecast by Treasury, but that student numbers will continue to grow.

Specific issues

Trades training

Following the earthquakes there has been significant focus on whether there are enough qualified trades people to help rebuild Christchurch. Ironically, up until the earthquake the government seemed be waging a vendetta against trades training, with large cuts to industry training and polytechnics forcing many trades departments to make trades tutors redundant and to increase class sizes.

Earlier this week though Mr Joyce announced that there would be an increased focus on trades at polytechnics to cope with higher levels of demand during the rebuild of quake-stricken Christchurch.

The minister told NZPA the boost would involve re-prioritising courses toward the trades and an increase in funding. Expect the minister to provide greater detail about what this new funding and focus might mean in the weeks leading up to the Budget. If it is a feel good measure to placate concerns about how quickly Christchurch can be rebuilt, it will be a one-off targeted payment to mostly Canterbury based trades training providers. If it is genuine attempt to address concerns about a long standing skills shortage it will be an-going nationwide funding package that looks to strengthen existing capacity in polytechnics and industry training providers.

Student loans

The government has repeatedly said that the current interest-free student loans policy is fiscally unsustainable, should not have been introduced, and is preventing the government from being able to balance the books as it would like. It has however, also repeatedly affirmed its pre-election promise that it will not remove interest-free student loans. Some in the tertiary sector, such as Universities NZ have lobbied the government to redirect funding for student loans and support spending going tertiary education performance funding.

There are two useful points to make here. The first is that student loans are not directly a tertiary education funding issue – they are actually a tax issue. Student loans operate as a tax on education, and, because of the way they are designed, are a regressive tax that means the poorest students and graduates pay the most tax on their education.

The second point is the government is stuck with interest-free student loans, but it is likely to use the Budget to propose further changes to reduce eligibility to those loans. The danger for those working in tertiary education is that if any changes to eligibility are too restrictivestringent it may increase either the perception, or the reality that tertiary education is unaffordable or unattainable.

Expect to see the government sell changes to the public in much the same way as the recent welfare reform debate, with students portrayed as ‘bludgers’, and funding cuts described as ‘closing loop-holes’.

The Tertiary Education Strategy

Last year the government released its Tertiary Education Strategy 2010-2015 which guides its tertiary education policy until 2015. The Ministry of Education largely developed this document under former tertiary education minister Anne Tolley, and subsequently it has the look of a document that was developed mostly by ministry officials without the close fiscal oversight that one might expect from the current minister.

Thus, it lists among its key priorities increasing the number of young people (aged under 25) achieving qualifications at levels four and above, particularly degrees, increasing the number of Māori and Pasifika students enjoying success at higher levels, improving the educational and financial performance of providers and strengthening research outcomes.

Worryingly for the government it would struggle to show how its current funding and policy choices are meeting any of those goals. Last year roughly 9000 would-be students missed study places due to the cap on EFTS. Changes to funding models mean that pathways courses to get students who would otherwise not enter tertiary education into study closed in favour of funding for postgraduate study for students who have already succeeded. Polytechnics, collectively down about $50 million in funding, are cutting staff and raising class sizes to stay financially viable. And MāoriMāori and Pasifika students are facing the brunt of decisions that are aimed at making tertiary education more costly and exclusive.

The government will face an interesting test later in the year when the Ministry of Education measures tertiary education against the priorities the government set in its strategy. The government may need at least a few small examples of new spending, particularly around access for students that would otherwise miss the opportunity to study in this year’s Budget to demonstrate its commitment to its own strategy.

Tertiary education’s role in the recession

Good tertiary education is not just about jobs, training and the economy. It serves a broader social purposes that strengthens our communities, our democracy and our health. But currently it is no surprise that the economy is a dominant topic for many people as the Budget approaches.

TEU has repeatedly argued that tertiary education has a crucial role to play in supporting New Zealand to climb out of the global financial crisis. New Zealand has a world-class tertiary education system with world-class people working in it. With the right support our tertiary education system can give people who would otherwise miss out on new skills and qualifications, it can kick-start and change the direction of our economy, and it provides top-quality research that shows a way forward.

Many other countries, including Australia see increased funding and access to their tertiary education system as an investment rather than a cost. New Zealand can also make this choice, but the current ideology around funding – of austerity and cuts – will not make it easy.

Other news

A survey released by Statistics New Zealand, in association with the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MSI), shows that universities undertook $802 million worth of research and development (R&D) in 2010, a third of the nation’s total R&D spend. The biennial Research and Development Survey measures the level of R&D activity by the private sector, government departments and agencies, and universities. Since the last survey in 2008, university R&D increased by 23% from $653 million to $802. New Zealand’s total R&D expenditure increased 13% during this period – Universities NZ

As Japan struggles to contain radiation leaking from a damaged nuclear-power plant, some universities have postponed the start of their academic year, while administrators worry about the long-term impact of the disaster on recruitment of foreign students and faculty members – Chronicle of Higher Education

A swindle involving a Perth university employee charging Indian students thousands of dollars for fake English test results stretched across the country, with one student flying from Queensland to obtain dodgy marks – The Australian

Canadian higher education leaders on Tuesday praised their federal government’s budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year, which would significantly increase spending on higher education and research. The 2011 budget would spend tens of millions of new dollars to create research chairs and invest in brain research, and provide additional funds for student financial aid and study abroad. “[T]oday’s budgetary commitments to higher education are in line with a growing consensus among Canadians that Canada’s research universities play an integral role in advancing our economy and improving the social and economic well-being of all Canadians,” said Stephen Toope, president of the University of British Columbia – Inside Higher Ed

Private colleges in Swaziland have been given until the end of May to register with the ministry of education and training or face closure. Minister Wilson Ntshangase announced that the ministry has decided to register all private tertiary institutions in the country – Swazi Observer

Largely unaccredited US universities that purport to give students “career training” are charging upwards of US3000 but the students working at Wal-Mart and 7-Eleven – Chronicle of Higher Education

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TEU Tertiary Update is published weekly on Thursdays and distributed freely to members of the Tertiary Education Union and others. You can subscribe to Tertiary Update by email or feed reader. Back issues are available on the TEU website. Direct inquiries should be made to Stephen Day.

However, by Wednesday prime minister John Key told Newstalk ZB that  it was unlikely interest will be put on student loans but that increases to EQC levies are inevitable, and that ‘there are aspects of Working for Families worth looking at’.

The Dominion Post’s Vernon Small reports that cuts to Working for Families are likely to be limited to those on high incomes. Mr Small’s highly placed Government source also said there could be further tightening of the eligibility criteria for the student loan scheme and an examination of ways to make it more affordable, though this would not see an end to interest-free loans.

Changes to a planned cut in business tax on April 1 had not been considered.

Mr English said it was early days in the assessment of the cost and extent of the damage and decisions would be made in the run-up to the May 19 Budget once more information was available.

TEU national present Sandra Grey says that the bill to pay for earthquake will be significant and the government will need to make choices.

“It’s important though that those choices don’t hurt people who are already suffering in a tough economic climate. Working for Families plays a crucial role in lifting people out of poverty and allowing them to find work.  Interest free student loans helps make the opportunity of tertiary education available for students from all backgrounds.”

Thanks to nznationalparty at Flickr for the photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/nznationalparty/2408460153/in/set-72157600490030671/

National organisations representing tens of thousands of people and more than 800 individuals have signed a letter to Prime Minister John Key demanding more openness in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).
 
Ahead of next week’s negotiations in Santiago, signatories to the open letter are calling for the text of the TPPA to be released for public scrutiny, along with any government position papers, and for New Zealand negotiators to get all the countries involved to agree collectively to this minimum level of transparency.
 
Signatories include the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and affiliates, the Society of Authors, Oxfam, church leaders, social justice groups, open Internet advocates, political parties and campaigners against foreign investment.
 
Open source technology and open government advocate Daniel Spector said that setting up a 100 year so-called “trade” agreement was short-sighted and foolhardy.
 
“Working under a veil of secrecy to create 100-year agreements with foreign governments is a challenge to our democracy. Decisions made in secret now will affect citizens for literally a century to come, and will damage the options of every future government of our own nation for effecting positive change as their electorates would desire.”
 
“It is essential that the text of TPPA be made public as it is developed, for appropriate consideration of the citizenry,” he said.
 
Robert Reid, General Secretary of the National Distribution Union said that trade unions and other organisations were sick and tired of agreements such as the TPPA being negotiated in secret.
 
“The issues that are being negotiated are not just about trade in goods they are about issues of economic sovereignty of New Zealand, and whether democratically elected governments of New Zealand will have the power to regulate the activities of multinational companies and investors.”

“Over the last few days we have seen statements of John Key contradicted by US trade negotiators.  It is only by releasing the text that we will be able to see who is telling the truth.

“It’s time to shine the light on these clandestine negotiations,” he said.

Posted via email from TEU

The University of Auckland’s vice-chancellor is offering academic staff a 4 percent pay-rise. But what has he put in the bag? Find out at meetings this week:

• Tuesday 8 Feb
  • Grafton,  502 B51, 10am
  • Epsom, F2, 12pm
• Wednesday 9 Feb
  • City, Conference Centre LT (423-342), 12pm, 1pm and 2pm
• Thursday 10 Feb
  • Tamaki, 730-264, 12pm

If you are not at the University of Auckland you can send messages of support to academic staff there via Jane.Adams@teu.ac.nz

Farfetched?

When asked last year if the Transpacific Partnership Trade Agreement he wants to sign would include provisions that allow foreign companies to sue governments for passing laws that might affect their profits the Prime Minister John Key told New Zealanders that such a suggestion was “far-fetched” and would not happen.

But a few days ago the Unites States contradicted our Prime Minister. “New Zealand had retracted the Prime Minister’s statement. It is not their position,” a US trade negotiator said. Read the full story here, and make sure you sign the open letter to the Prime Minister, calling on him to release the text of the Trans Pacific Partnership to the public so we know what is being negotiated.

“You are overly ambitious”

A TEU member sent us this YouTube parody of an academic scientist with lots of funding and publications, and who is up for her annual review with the university’s administration. Also on YouTube, TEU national secretary Sharn Riggs talks about public education and the 2011 election

Corporates suing NZ govt no longer far fetched
7 February, 2011

Last year Prime Minister John Key was asked whether the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement would include provisions that allow foreign companies to sue governments for passing laws that might affect their profits.

These provisions are common in other US trade agreements, such as NAFTA (an agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico), where governments have paid out US$326 million “compensation” to corporates.

Philip Morris is also using similar provisions to threaten countries that have introduced plain packaging of cigarettes.

John Key said in November last year that these ‘investor state dispute’ processes sounded far-fetched, ruling out these provisions.

Now, a US trade negotiator has said that was no longer New Zealand’s position.

In response to questions about New Zealand and Australian positions during a briefing to civil society groups in Washington on 31st January, the trade official said “New Zealand had retracted the Prime Minister’s statement. It is not their position.”

Read the full story here, and make sure you sign the open letter to the Prime Minister calling on him to release the text of the Trans Pacific Partnership – click on the pink box below!

Posted via email from TEU