Students condemn education cuts
By Catherine Smith
and Arun Pradhan
MELBOURNE — "Burn, Kemp, burn" was the chant taken up by hundreds of students outside Kay House at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) as a metre-wide effigy of federal education minister David Kemp went up in flames. More than 400 students attended the rally, which was part of a March 22 national day of action against education cuts and privatisation.
Earlier, 200 students gathered at Melbourne University to hear speakers condemn the recent sell-off of student housing. Another key demand of the Melbourne University students was the closure of Melbourne University Private (MUP), a private university which has received $600 million in funding from Melbourne University. Protesters highlighted MUP as a prime example of the shift away from publicly funded and accessible education.
Students from more than five universities and TAFE campuses converged at the GPO to be addressed by Jordy Hunter, Victorian National Union of Students' women's officer, and Jess Latimer, RMIT Student Union president. Anthony McMullen, chairperson of the Victorian TAFE Students and Apprentices Network, outlined the plight of TAFE students who have been banned from classes because they cannot afford compulsory administrative fees.
Jane Armanasco reports that 300 people rallied in Perth on March 22 outside the federal Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs office. The majority came from Murdoch University and the University of Western Australia, but students from Curtin University and Edith Cowan University also attended.
The day began with theatre involving students auctioning off education courses to the crowd. Speakers included Alannah MacTiernan, Labor's spokesperson for transport, Craig Edwardes, NUS West education officer, and a spokesperson for the National Tertiary Education Industry Union who emphasised the need for solidarity between the staff and students. Students then marched to the Liberal Party headquarters.