‘Orange sea’ of support rises
Education Minister Chris Hipkins has confirmed he will visit Invercargill on Friday and the person behind the Stand Up for SIT protest says he will be met with a sea of orange.
Government officials will be in Invercargill as part of the consultation process around the proposal to merge 16 polytechnics and institutes, including the Southern Institute of Technology.
A public meeting has been arranged at SIT’s Hansen Hall from 4pm to 7pm, when government officials will talk through the proposal.
A staffer for Hipkins confirmed the minister was ‘‘almost certain to be there for the first hour at least’’.
The merger proposal has been met with angst from large sections of the Southland community.
One the most vocal has been former Southland Chamber of Commerce president Carla Forbes.
Forbes initiated a Stand Up for SIT campaign, which she described as a protest against the Government’s proposal.
The Invercargill businesswoman has spent the past few days engaging with Southland businesses to see what support they would be prepared to throw behind the Stand Up for SIT campaign. The response had been phenomenal, Forbes said.
Businesses have put forward either money or staff resource for the campaign, as well as agreeing to have buildings or signs covered in orange for the campaign period.
‘‘As soon as we approached them, straight away they’ve just said, ‘what do you need?’.’’
The biggest barrier for Forbes, in her quest to get as much of Invercargill covered in orange, is the timeframe as sign writers worked as fast as they could, she said.
Signs have started to be put up around Invercargill for Hipkins’ visit on Friday.
‘‘We want to show him we are not taking this lightly.’’
Forbes confirmed the campaign would cost into the ‘‘tens of thousands’’ of dollars and that money had been generated by the support of various Southland
‘‘We want to show him we are not taking this lightly.’’ Carla Forbes
businesses.
Fencing around the Invercargill Licensing Trust demolition site on Dee and Don streets would have Stand Up for SIT branding, as well as a host of other buildings throughout the city, Forbes said.
The people behind the Stand Up for SIT campaign have been in contact with SIT officials to gather information for accuracy purposes.
However Forbes said the campaign was being run separate to any SIT submissions.
‘‘The SIT are putting together their own submissions which is quite political.
‘‘We are very much about the community.’’
Forbes hopes Southlanders take the opportunity to pack out Hansen Hall on Friday for the public meeting.
Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean also waded in on the debate yesterday, with the National MP saying that the ‘‘mega-merger’’ proposal was not needed in the south.
‘‘At the Southern Institute of Technology, domestic enrolments are up 15 per cent this year and the Trades faculty is up 16 per cent on last year.
‘‘These are strong results and reflect institutions that are not only successful, but are continuing to grow and flourish.
‘‘The Government should be consulting with them on a way forward for polytechnic education, rather than snuffing out their ingenuity and forcing them to conform to a national model that has never even been tested.
‘‘There may well be a need for polytechnic restructuring in other parts of the country – but don’t penalise this region for the failings of others – leave our local educational assets alone.’’