Unity on Wellington march

Vic students congregated on the Hunter lawn between 12 and 12.30 pm last Wednesday in preparation for a march to Parliament. Ostensibly we were going to present Mr Amos with a set of two faded, damp, pale pink (for his political colour) facecloths, the facecloths were to be awarded to Mr Amos in recognition of his long years of service to education. Two rather than one were to be presented because the SRC motion authorising the presentation stipulated that one facecloth was to be presented for each of the minister's faces.

The real purpose of the march was to press for the implementation of the promised tertiary bursary. 1500 students from all faculties (yes, law and commerce students as well) had gathered before the march set off downtown.

The number of students present was a remarkable confirmation of the student support NZUSA has claimed in negotiations with the Minister. At Victoria apart from articles in Salient and occasional leaflets not one forum had been held on the issue yet one in four of Vic students dropped their studies and turned up for the march. Nationwide 10,000 students were involved in protests at the inaction on bursaries by the Minister and his department.

The march started off down Salamanca Road with a variety of libellous, possible libellous and only slightly libellous banners and placards commenting on the fruits of Mr Amos' 'long years of service to education'. The march proceeded in a lively spirit and leaflets were handed out to cars, people, building sites and buses that the march passed by explaining why we were marching and asking for public support. Already all the major teachers' organisations, some trade unions, various public groups and the Australian Union of Students have given their support to our campaign and it is hoped that we can keep increasing our backing from the public.

The march was led by Sue Green, Education Vice-President of NZUSA, and Lisa Sacksen, President of Vic students carrying the facecloths. Chanting 'No money, no vote' and '1 2 3 we want the bursary' we were met by 600 Polytech students led by Bryan Hughes, their president, at James Smith corner. The march was assuming mammoth proportions covering the whole of Willis Street to Lambton Quay with plenty to spare still coming up Manners Street. Students had been joining the march all along the route and when the march strode into Parliament grounds our numbers were up to 3000.

The march had just gathered around the steps of Parliament when out popped Rob Muldoon complete with leering grin. But the crowd did not want Rob -it wanted Amos and the chant 'We want Amos' was started up. However it became obvious Amos did not want us as we heard that a delegation was to be allowed to see the Minister but the Minister would not be gracing the rest of the students on the demonstration with his presence. (For what happened to the delegation see Sue Green's story). So in went the delegation with the facecloths.

While the delegation was inside trying to get the Minister to give the students a! least one of his faces the students outside chanted for Amos. A speaker from Teacher's College got up and said that their banner had mysteriously developed a hole in it but that they were here with the march and 'heartily endorsed it'. Mark Peck from STANZ (The student teacher's organisation) said STANZ believed students should have, as right, a living wage and that the negotiations for this living wage should be done directly with the Department by the students' own representatives.

Peck went on to raise the question of who should pay for the proposed bursary. He said the 'overburdened taxpayer' should not be made to pay any more than he is at the moment. The ordinary worker was supposed to gain by this new bursary by being able to afford university education for himself and his children if they wanted. If the tax burden for the new bursary was to fall on him then half the reasons for the new bursary would disappear. Peck said he supported a corporate tax whereby the current beneficiaries of university education would pay towards the cost of creating graduates. Peck's remarks were greeted with strong applause.

Then, while still waiting for the return of the delegation, another National MP came out but students realised there was nothing National could do for them and that their struggle was with the Labour government. A 'young' National proceeded to say the march had their support but this was not well recieved. The marchers wanted one thing only - a genuine promise from Amos for a tertiary bursary this year - they weren't interested in party political broadcasts from anybody.

At 1.30 pm the Nats tried again as a veritable Task Force of Tories wandered onto the steps, Bert Walker, Les Gandar, Adams-Schneider, and Ken (Rupert Bear) Comber. 'National, of course, supports students. ..' said Gandar who knew like everyone else that even a Labour government would introduce the bursary before National would get back in. Gandar had to finish his speech using two loudspeakers as the crowd wouldn't keep quiet for him and after a while the Nats started to 'circulate.'

Sue said that once again Mr Amos 'basically had nothing to say' about the bursary. She asked us what we thought of Mr Amos - as one we replied 'piss poor'. Sue finished her report with the words, 'All I can say is that Mr Amos, as is the Labour government, is going to have a lot to answer for in November.'

The march is over now and it looks like Amos has weathered another storm. But don't think he won't have nightmares about 10,000 students demanding action. What we must do is to keep on the offensive. We must write letters and telegrams, harrass our local MPs (especially if they are in the Labour Party). publicise our case to the public and try and draw in as much support as we can. If 10,000 is not enough then we might just have to go back with a few more.