By Sean Healy
Momentum is building on universities around the country for the March 26 national day of action in defence of public education.
After protests and strike action last year against federal government cuts to higher education, 1997 appears set to be another hot year on campus.
This week, last minute organisation to build the rallies will take place, including student general meetings and actions and demonstrations on campus.
Already this year, students have been forced to bear the effects of the $1.4 billion cut in funding, the restrictions on Austudy, across-the-board rises in HECS levied on graduates, and new regulations allowing university administrations to levy fees for 25% of places.
Restrictions on Austudy, including a tightening of the Actual Means Test and the raising of the qualifying age from 22 to 25 for the higher independent rate of Austudy, has resulted in 60,000 students having their benefits reduced or cancelled.
The budget cuts have caused university administrations to close libraries, cut subjects and courses, and in some cases attempt to impose fees on students for services such as the internet.
But the government and university administrations haven't had it all their way. Student demonstrations at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) and Melbourne University have been an obstacle for university councils planning to offer 25% of places to full fee-paying students.
At UTS, a demonstration of 60 students disrupted a meeting of the University Council and forced the postponement on any decision on full fee-paying places. At Melbourne University, a similar action by students forced vice-chancellor Alan Gilbert to send postal ballots to council members, in fear that students would disrupt future council meetings. At Macquarie University a demonstration held against plans to impose an ancillary fees also put the administration on the spot.
The government also is keen to play down the issue, with the minister responsible Amanda Vanstone's office letting it be known that the higher education sector will not be cut further in this year's budget.
However, no-one in the education sector is likely to trust any such promise. The government's planned cuts to health and other sectors, and its need to fill another newly discovered "budget black hole", makes any such promise worthless.
Vanstone is running scared after revelations that her department had bungled the application of the revised Actual Means Test. Vanstone was forced into an embarrassing back-down after protests, especially from rural constituencies.
This comes on top of widespread public anger in the first three months of the year at the impact of the cuts, including the tightening of Austudy eligibility and the increase in the rate of HECS payments.
The March 26 national day of action is being supported by the National Tertiary Education and Industry Union, which covers academics and general staff at universities, and other trade unions. The ACT Trades and Labour Council also passed in motion in support of the student action.
Jo Brown, a Resistance activist at Sydney University, told Green Left Weekly that "the response Resistance has had in campaigning around this issue shows that students are pissed off. The challenge for us is to organise that anger and make sure it's reflected in a successful national day of action.
"Student campaigning has to be targeted at both the university administrations, which are implementing the cuts, and at the federal government. Vanstone and the government think that this year they can deflect the fire; we have to ensure we keep the pressure up."
[To get involved in building the March 26 national day of action on your campus, contact your local Resistance branch or student organisation.]