Vanstone confronted

Vanstone confronted

LISMORE — Students from Southern Cross University (SCU) Lismore confronted federal education minister Amanda Vanstone on July 23, as she was leaving an OECD conference on higher education at Byron Bay. The protesters condemned the government's education funding cuts, Austudy and Abstudy restrictions and the introduction of up-front undergraduate fees — all of which Vanstone attempted to justify before making a quick getaway. Vanstone was speaking on "Balancing regional interests with national priorities". SCU, like many smaller and regional universities, is scrambling after shrinking federal funding.

@photo caption = Photo by Nick Fredman

From GLW issue 283