The Green Party has begun the process for a Select Committee inquiry into student accommodation, which has been exposed during COVID-19 as an under-regulated sector that straddles students with unfair debt.

Supporting students creates a fairer society and a stronger economy. Tertiary education can help drive the transition to a sustainable Aotearoa New Zealand. Tertiary education should be free Student fees should be capped and progressively reduced. The EFTS and PBRF funding models should be reviewed to ensure universities are adequately funded and incentivised to cooperate rather than compete. Funding should improve staff to student ratios, library resources, and staff retention. Student loans should remain interest free Graduates should be able...

Young people should be empowered to create a better Aotearoa New Zealand and overcome the challenges created by previous generations. Democracy must include young people Young people should have representation or a voice on local and community boards. The Local Government Act should require councils to resource Youth Councils and employ child and youth advocates. Civics, human rights, and environmental education should be taught in schools. The health system should meet the needs of young people Improving youth mental health...

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...

Students are the only group in society expected to borrow just to get by. We believe that students should be supported so that they can focus on learning the skills they need to contribute to a smart, innovative economy and a fairer society. It’s difficult to do that when you are constantly worried about making ends meet. Tertiary study should be a way out of poverty, not a way into it. The Green Party will:  Make all post-graduate students eligible...

The Green Party is launching a plan today to help people struggling with student loans get into their first home. Green MP Gareth Hughes’s Student Loan Scheme First Home Repayment Diversion Bill was launched today, the latest in a series of Green Party policies to address the housing crisis. “Many young people are struggling to get a house deposit together and we want to make it easier and faster for them to get a foot in the door,” said Green...

Rising unemployment shows how National’s economic mismanagement has failed to deliver enough jobs for New Zealanders, the Green Party says. “Ten thousand more unemployed people is ten thousand real life tragedies for people hunting for work, and their families,” Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said. “The Government keeps saying that good times are just around the corner but actually, for the 144,000 New Zealanders who are looking for a decent job now, those good times never seem to arrive. “National is too...

The Government is forcing students into more debt, by keeping the student accommodation payment capped at 2004 levels for more than a decade, the Green Party says. Student Debt today tipped $15 billion. “The accommodation payment was capped at $40 a week for single students way back in 2004, before YouTube even existed,” Green Party tertiary education spokesperson Gareth Hughes said. “The average student today is likely to be paying 56 percent more rent than they were in 2004.* “Rents...