Nats’ petition opposes mega polytech plan
National Party leader Simon Bridges has denied that the launch of a petition to ‘‘save’’ the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology is a publicity stunt that unnecessarily scared students.
At the launch yesterday, Bridges said the Government’s plans for the vocational education sector would fail to meet the needs of local businesses and students.
Labour Party and student representatives branded the rally and petition launch outside NMIT, organised by Nelson MP Nick Smith, a ‘‘crusade’’ that was not supported by the institute, and which left students and parents worried about their courses next year.
Smith denied scaremongering, saying NMIT was still a ‘‘great institute’’, but that the changes would be bad for Nelson and NMIT in the long term.
Bridges said centralising the tertiary sector was ‘‘based on ideology rather than what works’’.
The petition, launched by Nelson deputy mayor Paul Matheson, opposes changes announced on August 1 to merge New Zealand’s 16 institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs) to operate as a single national campus network.
Smith said the move would lead to a loss of local control of New Zealand’s topranked polytech, staff redundancies, and the taking of NMIT assets paid for by Nelson ratepayers.
Saniti president Cornelius Prinsloo said Smith was causing ‘"nothing but trouble’’ with the campaign, which falsely suggested that NMIT was collapsing.
Matheson said he was launching the petition over concerns that NMIT would lose its mana and identity. He and Nelson Mayor Rachel Reese were concerned about the potential loss of NMIT cash assets.