Four people who’ve never voted, 25 weeks and 4 days until the election, and a whole lot of issues on everyone’s mind. It’s a simple set-up, and this week’s been made a lot simpler with the buh-byeing of Fees Free.
LABOUR
- No Interest on Student Loans
- No commitment to free education or restoring Fees free at this time
- No major changes announced to student Allowance eligibility or commitment to restore for post grad students
- When asked by Ingrid Hipkiss if Labour would reinstate Fees Free, Chris Hipkins said “We’re not gonna make a decision on that until after we’ve seen what the government’s budget is.”
ACT
- Campaigned to put interest on student loans as late as 2020
- Strongly opposed fees free and in 2025 backed a Members’ bill that would effectively end Māori and Pasifika scholarships
- Was in government when tighter conditions were placed on post grad student allowance
“Fees-Free is an unprincipled bribe that hasn’t delivered results. Labour has spent about $2 billion on Fees-Free since 2017 but the participation rate for tertiary education has increased by just 1 percentage point from 43 to 44 per cent.” – Seymour
NATIONAL
- No announcements regarding interest on student loans
- Opposed and ended Fees Free as the leading government after changing the scheme from the initial year of tertiary education to the third year
- Leading government when tighter conditions were placed on post grad student allowance
- “We already underwrite 80% of university education, one of the highest in the world and so lets knock it on the head.” – Luxon
GREENS
- Committed to keeping student loans interest free
- Critical of government’s decision to scrap Fees Free
- Believe all post-graduate students should be eligible for student allowances, want to increase student allowances by 20%
- “The Greens know that it is a fantastic, wise, smart investment to invest in tertiary education for students and our communities.” – Marama Davidson
NZFirst
- Support interest free student loans for borrowers living in New Zealand
- Winston Peters leaked the end of Fees Free ahead of the budget announcement, believes it was wasteful spending
- In 2023 NZFirst investigated the possibility of a universal student allowance not subjected to parental means testing, no further announcements
- “We are going to reshape and repurpose it for the trades and all sorts of industries where we do need it and where we can get a far better payback for our money and pay far less money doing it.” – Peters
Te Pāti Māori
- Have supported writing off the student loan for students who work in New Zealand for five years following graduation
- No comments regarding the abolition of fees free, have historically campaigned on eliminating fees for all years of tertiary study
- Regarding the ACT party’s bill to effectively end Māori and Pasifika scholarships, said ““What we are seeing from the Act Party is only another attempt to misrepresent tangata whenua and perpetuate a false narrative that Māori get preferential treatment. That is nothing but rubbish.” – Tākuta Ferris
Opportunity Party
- Have floated the idea of student loan forgiveness to encourage talent to remain in the country
- Proposing a Universal Basic Income for all citizens of 20,000 a year (roughly $370 a week) which would also replace Student Allowance and living costs
- “We’ll lure talent back through student loan interest forgiveness and loosen up migration rules for high wage, in-demand workers.” – Policy page on Opportunity Party’s website.
Response:
Lauren: Green party is definitely the one I agree with the most at the moment, especially as a student with a loan, because its hard for anyone these days to study tertiary without needing financial assistance. The government needs to invest in the next generation, or later on in life, they could get fucked over when they need help from these students that need their help now. The parties against fees free or accessible loans really don’t appeal, because how are students supposed to support themselves if they aren’t part of the small percentage that already has thousands of dollars.
Filly: From this information I think that what the Green Party is proposing is on the best interest of the students, like keeping Student Loan interest free and being committed to reinstating Fees Free, sound like the best way to go, we need a government that support our future professionals instead of alienated them and force them to look for better opportunists elsewhere. I think that the worst proposal will be the Act Party one like Campaigned to put interest on student loans is some supervillain type sh*t, like you wanna make broke students even more broke, what’s next? 😑.
Zoe: As usual, Labour are being non-committal, National are making unnecessary changes to distract from the fact that they haven’t magically ‘fixed’ the economy, and David Seymour is an attention seeking sensationalist. It should come as no surprise that a feminist humanities student with a slight communist bend agrees with what the Green Party are suggesting. I think that the continuation of Fees Free is essential to prevent a further marginalisation of working-class individuals and I will agree with any party that vows to reinstate it. Although in saying that, I haven’t heard much about the Opportunity Party, but the premise of a Universal Basic Income sounds very intriguing (again: communism)
Germaine: While in an ideal world I would support fees free study and student allowance a for all students, I actually think Labour’s stance is very sensible. The government budget is not unlimited and I think it’s perfectly appropriate to look at the data first before making promises.
