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Salient. Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 42 No. 15. July 9 1979
[Introduction]
A political exercise in deception or how the Minister of Education distorts the consultative process.
On 21 June Prime Minister Muldoon announced in the Budget that the STB would be replaced by a more restricted Tertiary Study Grant. This involves a fundamental change to the basic nature of financial assistance to tertiary (university and technical institute students.) Naturally one would expect that before such a fundamental change was made the Minister of Education would have discussed it (or at least its features) with those most directly involved and affected — student organisations, teacher organisations, and administrators in the concerned institutions. They surely would have been in a good position to advise the Minister as to the possible implications of such a scheme. Whether the Minister accepted the advice is another question and is not the issue; at least he would have been able to evaluate it.
"This is part of a continuing policy. In 1977 and 1978 Conferences were held by my Department and were attended by interested groups and organisations to consider financial assistance for Post School Study.
In April 1978 my predecessor established a Steering Committee on Financial Assistance for Post Compulsory Study which has made three interim reports to the Minister of Education. At the same time both my predecessor and I have met with student groups, teacher organisations and other interested parties and sought their views.
The new scheme announced in the Budget is an outcome of this review of the present system of assistance for tertiary students."