One final rant

Don't worry everyone, while current trends may suggest otherwise, I am not turning my blog into a full-time vent for my political rants. I always intended to mix things up in an effort to ensure my blog served no specific purpose whatsoever except to take snap shots of my life an thoughts in this crazy town. I make no apologies, however, for the increased frequency of political ranting of late. The fact is, you would need to look a long way back in Australian political history to find a fortnite quite like the one just gone. Unless you are a raving, foaming at the mouth, Liberal party devotee, I don't know how anyone could think that last week was anything but a horrible reminder of how fragile our democratic system really is. Regardless of your opinions on industrial relations, welfare, anti-terror laws and VSU (among others), the abuse of power that occurred was nothing short of a travesty.

As you might have imagined, my last post was written in considerable anger ... no doubt Mum will be waiting at the fron door on Christmas day, with soap in hand, to wash my mouth out :-). It was quite a day for anyone following the VSU issue. I didn't say much about it, so let this post be a summing up of the events (and yes, perhaps one last rant), before I lay it to rest (until next year anyway).

While Barnaby Joyce, the Nationals "maverick" Senator from Queensland, crossed the floor, Steve Fielding, the Family First Senator from Victoria, decided to vote in favour of VSU, effectively nullifying Barnaby's vote. So, the bill passed with a vote of 29 to 27. Barnaby, while against compulsory student unionism, could not get Nelson to budge on the issue of allowing Universities to charge students an amenities and services fee (GSF) to maintain infrastructure (in effect, Barnaby was trying to not let the baby be thrown out with the bath water).

Steve, on the other hand, had expressed no particular opinion on the matter until the (guillotined) Senate debate on Friday. He now claims his reasons are that the subsidised services for which the GSF supports, are not "essential enough" to warrant this fee being charged to students. In reference to families, Fielding says that the fee itself may cause hardship on families.

let the rant begin now ...

Personally I am gob-smacked at how such a simplistic view of things can prevail. The sorts of support services we're talking about relate specifically to the well being of students on campus, and lets not forget how many students from rural and international locations leave home and have to adjust to a completely different life style. The clubs and societies, the counseling services, the sport, the social events, the advocacy services, the cheap access to legal, and financial aid are all things that students, particularly those a long way from home, can draw from to ensure they have the support they need. Personally, I would have thought that parents would feel comforted in the knowledge that the universities their children are heading off to each day, provide all these services at low cost (or free), and have all the support networks in place to ensure students are looked after. Let us also not forget that most students are only 17 or 18 years old when they start university - an age where things start to dramatically change - leaving home, serious relationships, full responsibility for their own education. Having a university campus equipped to ensure that a student is always looked after, is surely essential enough to support.

Even if you are not convinced that VSU is bad, consider the fact that no research report has been sort to understand just what the effects of VSU might be on Australian Universities. This was an problem Barnaby often mentioned - Where are the figures ? Where is the 5 year outlook ?, the 10 year outlook ? Where can I find a document that provides the considered responses of experts to the many concerns expressed by Australia's Vice-Chancellors, the National Union of Students and the thousands of students who this will effect. The truth is, this legislation has nothing to do with improving the lives of university students, its about pay-back by many government ministers, who had a bit of a hard time of it when they were involved in student politics. Pathetic.

The government has agreed to set aside 80 Million dollars to assist universities with the transition period after VSU comes into effect on July 1 next year. This seemingly arbitrary, baseless figure is cold comfort for Australia's already cash strapped universities that now, if they want to maintain student support services, must find the money themselves - if universities attempt to maintain services as they are, it will be at the cost of other pillars of university operation, such as research and education. If universities don't (or simply can't) provide adequate funding to support these services, then there is no doubt who will suffer - the students.. in fact, either way, students will not be better off. If things really deteriorate, there is also the risk that the other major cash earner for Australian Universities, the full-fee paying international student, may also dry up as these students start to look elsewhere for a higher quality of university education (and more generally, a more enriching experience).

Finally, you will note here that I am not drumming the beat to compulsory unionism itself. I do support freedom of association, but this is not about that issue. The government has said an awful lot about this, but in reality, this aspect of the legislation is a drop in the ocean compared with the general lack of funding for support services. Its just a pitty that ideology blinds our politicians of what, at least in my eyes, is just common sense.

Enough said.

Futher post-VSU vote reports:

• Senator Andrew Bartlett's blog (and plenty of comments).
  
• ABC radio (AM) transcript
  (Saturday morning).
  
• "Fileding defends VSU debate" (ABC news website).
  

.. and just to make sure I am not accused of citing "left-friendly" sources only:

• Fielding security tightens