Factors

It is factors such as these that will have considerable bearing upon the salary level decision which will shortly be made by the University Salaries Committee. A number of university bodies (including AUT and the vice-chancellors committee but not NZUSA) are stressing the implications if salaries are not raised to at least parity with Australia.

Last increases were in mid-1964 when salaries were raised to a level similar to the Australian scale before its increases in late 1963. It is alleged that, during negotiations, the Prime Minister ad-j mitted the principle of parity with Australia although New Zealand fell short of such parity by about 20 per cent. University reaction was bitter and included "New Zealand universities are in a worse position for bargaining for staff than ever before" (Dr. Pownall, vice-chancellor of Canterbury) and "New Zealand has taken another bold leap into the past" (Dr. A. Beachem, vice-chancellor of Otago).