Ideologically driven Nelson clutches at more straws

Brendan Nelson has further conceded in today's media that his proposed VSU legislation still does not have the support of his Coalition colleagues. But instead of withdrawing the legislation, the Minister has come up with yet another poorly thought out concept, in the form of a national referendum.

Speaking from the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations Annual Council Meeting in Sydney, CAPA President Stephen Horton stated that, "while of course we support democratic decision making, we question the Minister's ability to allow an open, fair and informed debate on the issue."

If Nelson is writing the 'no' case, will he also use taxpayers' money to fund the 'no' campaign? Will student organisations receive equal funding for their campaign? If not, will they be forced to use student money, intended for student services, to fund this campaign? And what will students be voting for, the right to maintain funding for their organisations or simply the right to pay money with no input on how it is spent?

This proposal does not solve any of the problems that VSU presents. It demonstrates how ill conceived and ideologically driven Nelson's VSU agenda truly is. The Minister should simply drop the Bill rather than coming up with more bizarre policy on the run.