By Michael Tardif
AUCKLAND — Students across New Zealand demonstrated against fees for tertiary education on May 3 as part of a national day of action timed to coincide with similar student actions in Australia.
The actions demanded an end to up-front fees for courses and the associated loans scheme available to students to pay these fees. Since the introduction of the two schemes, students have run up a total debt in excess of $1 billion.
In Auckland 3500 students marched out of the Auckland University campus and into Queen Street in the city, chanting "No Fees" and calling for the resignation of education minister Lockwood Smith. The rally was a successful rebuff to right-wing students who had tried to organise a pub crawl at the same time in an attempt to undermine student political action.
Tensions had been running high the entire morning as police helicopters started circling low over the campus as early as 9am. Upon arriving at Queen Street, students were met by a massive police force blocking their advance. The students aimed to march past Aotea Square, which faces Queen Street, on their way to Inland Revenue, which administers the student debt.
Police had blocked off the entire square to the public for the week to make way for a board of directors meeting of the Asian Development Bank. As students broke through the first line of police barriers across Queen Street, the 250 police retreated to barricades off the entrance to Aotea Square.
Outraged at the occupation of the public square by a bunch of bankers, the students began chanting, "The square belongs to us", and trying to force back the police. In the process police arrested the SRC president and a Maori student representative.
The students then organised a sit-in and blockade of Queen Street. They heard a range of speakers and solidarity messages, including some delivered by students from the Philippines, Australia and PNG attending the Asia Pacific students conference on privatisation and regionalisation of education. Towards the end of the rally both the arrested students were released from custody without charges.
In Wellington students also took to the streets, marching to the vice chancellor's office and eventually organising a 400-strong occupation. Messages of solidarity were received from the occupation and met with cheers and chanting at the Auckland demonstration. Similar actions were organised around the rest of the country.