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Salient. Victoria University Students' Association Newspaper. Vol 42 No. 1. February 26 1979

National Affairs Officer

National Affairs Officer

This is a job with wide potential for anyone interested in the internal political situation in this country. It has become a particularly interesting position lately with the general acceleration of government misbehaviour in the field of Civil Liberties, and with increasing attacks on the rights of particular groups like Maoris, women, and Trade Union members.

These attacks come (and will keep coming) suddenly, and good National Affairs officer needs to be prepared to react to them quickly, publicise the situation to students, keep SRC informed, and mount a full-scale campaign if necessary or clearly desired by students. The most prominent examples of where this has occured in the past would include the SIS Bill controversy, Abortion, speaking bans on overseas visitors, dawn raids page 7 by police (the overstayers' issue) and Bastion Point.

It is evident that much of the National Affairs portfolio overlaps with those of other officers. Thus the National Officer must be prepared to work closely with other SRC officers when the issue dictates. Abortion, for instance, although obviously an important internal political issue comes most specifically under the interest of the Women's Rights Officer. Similarly, if the government refuses to come forth over Bursaries, that is primarily the concern the Education Officer, but the National Affairs Officers should be interested too. This is equally likely to occur within the fields of Welfare, Environmental Affairs, and, to a lesser extent, Overseas Students.

Of course the concerns of the National Affairs Officer do not revolve entirely around spontaneous issues. One problem that has been with us on a major scale for some time, and that affects students particularly, is unemployment. It is NZUSA's top priority for National Affairs, and the situation is still getting worse. It would not be out of place for the 1979 National Affairs Officer to make this a major, or the major field of his or her concern.

As with all the SRC positions, the officers must be prepared and able to liase with a range of organisations, ranging from NZUSA to the University Welfare Services. But even more important is the ability to involve students in hi her activities, as mass action is one of the most important weapons the Association has.