Salient. Official Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 41 No. 21. August 28 1978

The Government is the People

The Government is the People

Gill was referring to Government sponsored students. When it was pointed out to him that the SA scholarship was a private award he disagreed on the grounds that New Zealanders were involved in the selection. The old "the people and the Government are the same" argument. Gill's insistence that the scholarship was not a private one formed the basis of his replies.

He claimed that the only recipient to date, Henry Isaacs, had devoted far too much time to politics and far too little time to his studies. The fact that Isaacs has done well in his academic life did not influence this opinion. Isaacs, claimed Gill, was "an irritant in the community". It's not hard to see just whom he has been irritating.

Clause 5d of the terms of the scholarship then came under examination. This states. "That recipients be willing to speak in New Zealand to any groups interested in Southern Africa bearing in mind that the scholarship is primarily to support the recipient's course of study". Gill claimed that the clause "required" the recipient to speak on politics, then said it said s/he should be "prepared" to speak, and generally did his best to steer the discussion into a semantic dead end.

He was asked why no other scholarships had such a restriction placed on them. They did, he claimed. Rotary and American Field Scholars were obliged to speak on the situation in their home countries, he was told. This was different. The SA scholarship wasn't private, it was given by special arrangement, he replied. It covered an area from which we don't usually take students. Well, we may not take many students from Southern Africa but we do take more immigrants from there than anywhere else.