Prime Minister Chris Hipkins faced a hostile welcome from student protesters in Dunedin today as anger continues to brew over deep job cuts at universities.
At Otago University, protesters have been frustrated at the institution's decision to cut several hundred jobs amid a $60 million deficit in its budget.
Universities across the country are facing a rocky year ahead as financial stress from a turbulent economy and Covid-related setbacks hit hard.
Around two dozen students carried signs reading: "Oppose Labour's Cuts to Otago".
At an event organised by the university's student union, Hipkins told a large crowd of students that institutions needed to have the "autonomy" to make decisions on cuts.
He said he wanted to "acknowledge" the uncertainty that staff were going through at institutions but added that "there is reason to be optimistic about the future".
"I acknowledge that because of the combination of the rising cost of living and declining enrollments in university-level study — it's still a difficult time for universities."
Hundreds of Otago students marched in a protest against the job cuts on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, last week, Wellington's Victoria University announced it would have to cut up to 260 jobs due to a lack of additional Government funding.
Hipkins continued: "I'm also a believer, however, in the autonomy of the universities to make those decisions.
"I think that actually is an important part of our tertiary education system — that our universities do have a very large amount of operational autonomy from the government.
"Because in countries where they don't, they also don't have the same degree of free speech and academic freedom, that we pride ourselves in New Zealand.
"So, whilst I'm sure there'll be people who disagree with the decisions that the university might be taking, I think it is important that they continue to do that independently."
One of the protesters, Amelia, told 1News that she thought the PM's speech "sounded mostly positive" but wanted better answers about how institutions were funded.
"There was a little bit of: 'It's not our problem, it's the university's autonomy,' which was a little sort of bit blasé because obviously, the funding is a major part of why universities are making the cuts."
Speaking to students, Hipkins suggested Covid-19 had slowed down progress on the Government's tertiary agenda, like expanding the fees-free programme beyond first-year study — among other policies Labour had previously campaigned on.
"Unfortunately, a lot of the things that we were endeavouring to do in 2017 had to be slowed down. And that was one of the things that we haven't been able to make further progress on."
Otago University Students Association president Quentin Jane told 1News that student "anger" over the cuts came when "livelihoods and futures are on the line".
"The increases that we saw to funding in Budget didn't go far enough," he said.
"What I hope came of the meeting today is that the prime minister was able to hear the concerns of students so that when the Labour Party is putting together their election manifesto, they can make sure to really target the issues affecting students."
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