Following on from More Evidence of Student Association Delusions of Grandeur, where I shared Auckland University Students Assocation's (AUSA) unfathomable intentions to incorporate the UN Declaration of Human Rights into their constitution, a fellow student and reader of this blog, brought my attention to today's email to all University of Auckland students which he described as "bribery now to get what they want." I must concur:

Student apathy was at its worst today when we failed to get 200 people to turn up to the quad to hold the AUSA Winter General Meeting. However, all is not lost - we are going to try again!

So come to the quad at 1pm on Thursday the 27th of August (tomorrow) and vote in favour of putting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into the AUSA Constitution! We were only about 20 people short so I cannot stress enough that YOU REALLY WILL MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE!

Even if the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is not your thing, we will be giving out candy! FOR FREE! Maybe even a few muesli bars for the health-conscious amongst you. All you need to do is bring along your uni ID card and flash it in favour of human rights!

SEE YOU IN THE QUAD AT 1PM, THURSDAY 28 AUGUST. DO IT.

Again I am left wondering how on earth this move can "MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE" for human rights.

Again we see the disregard for proper constitutional process in the statement "All you need to do is bring along your uni ID card and flash it in favour of human rights!" AUSA membership is voluntary, as such, possession of a Uni ID card does not mean that you are an AUSA member and are entitled to vote but they do not seem to care about this detail.

So basically you can receive material benefits if you vote the way they want you to (doesn't matter if you're not really to eligible to vote) and all this is in the name of AUSA's strong commitment to human rights.

This would be funnier if I wasn't paying for it.

I just got this in my inbox:

AN OPPORTUNITY HAS ARISEN:
On Wednesday the 26th of August at the AUSA [Auckland University Students Association] Winter General Meeting there has been an opening to incorporate the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS into the AUSA constitution.

WE NEED 200 PEOPLE IN THE QUAD TO VOTE IN FAVOUR AT THE WINTER GENERAL MEETING!
WEDNESDAY 26th AUGUST at 1pm.

WHY IS THIS NECESSARY AND IMPORTANT?

The Universal Declaration is a common statement of mutual aspirations - a shared vision of a more equitable and just world. By incorporating this into its constitution, AUSA would commit itself to these human rights norms. If you care about people and their rights, make sure your voice is heard on this issue.

PLEASE COME ALONG! Don't just assume that enough people will turn up without your effort - you REALLY will make a difference!

Now one wonders what AUSA think they will achieve by incorporating the UN Declaration into their association? The mind boggles. They wrote "By incorporating this into its constitution, AUSA would commit itself to these human rights norms." What does this mean or rather what do they think it means?

Maybe they think that students won't have human right protection without this move.
Maybe they think that they, a student association, are a body in the nature of a state or that they perform a public function that places them on par with a state but even if that were true they would be obligated to uphold Human Rights regardless of whether it was in their constitution or not.
Maybe they hope that incorporating it will make them into a state.
Maybe they think that by them incorporating it into their constitution that action will, like some kind of butterfly effect, improve the human rights of people in other countries.
Maybe they want to make a big gesture so they can feel all warm and fuzzy... it is raining in Auckland today so maybe that is it.

Either way it seems a fairly pointless way to spend an afternoon especially if they think they can achieve it with "200 people" turning up; they need 200 members to turn up if they want to amend their constitution. AUSA despite their compulsory funding is the only university students association in New Zealand with voluntary membership - I received the call to come and I am not a member. It is almost tempting to turn up and see if they intend to check those voting are in fact members or not.

I wonder if they know that the UN Declaration of Human Rights calls for Freedom of Association? Something that, if they had their way, they'd undermine in a heartbeat with a return to compulsory membership.

Fantastic news! Yesterday the Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill 75/1 was drawn from the ballot. Sponsored by ACT's Sir Roger Douglas, the explanatory note states:

The purpose of this Bill is to uphold students’ right to freedom of association, by ensuring that no student is compelled to join a students association.

Section 17 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 guarantees the right to freedom of association. This right includes the freedom from compelled association. Parliament has an obligation to ensure New Zealand legislation is consistent with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act and New Zealand’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

This Bill does not seek to damage or limit students associations, but guarantees the right of students to the freedom of association. It will result in students associations being truly representative of the students who voluntarily join them.

Under this Bill, all students would be able to choose whether or not to join a students association. The current Act requires councils to conduct a referendum to decide if all students should be forced to become members of an association, if petitioned by 10% of the students enrolled at the institution. If a majority of voters in a referendum support compulsory membership, then the right to freedom of association for the all remaining students is breached.

This Bill seeks to address the negative consequences stemming from the passing of the Education Amendment Act 2000 and the referenda provisions of the Education (Tertiary Students Association Voluntary Membership) Amendment Act 1997. The current legislation fails to guarantee individual students a satisfactory opportunity to withdraw from associations, and sets the bar too high for those who wish to make membership of a students association voluntary.

The link above will take you to a pdf of the Bill as hosted by Salient (Blogger does not permit me to upload attachments). As former President and Vice-President of the Waikato Students Union during its brief stint as a voluntary association, Matt and I are extremely pleased that this bill is on the table and we urge the government to back it.

The only thing I would want to fiddle with is clause 6 to make sure it is really clear that the voluntary membership model at the University of Auckland, where I currently study, is not able to continue. It is effectively compulsory funding but voluntary membership and almost all the problems of compulsory associations remain as a result. It appears that clause 6 of this Bill is intended to address this,

6 New section 229 substituted

Section 229 is repealed and the following section substituted:

“229 Voluntary membership of students associations

“(1) No person, including any tertiary institution or any association of students, may require any student or exert undue influence on any student –

“(a) to become or not become a member of any association of students; or
“(b) to pay any money to any association of students, or to any other person in lieu of such fees.

“(2) No person, including any tertiary institution, may act in any way which conflicts with the sprit and intent of this section.” [sic]

However, at Auckland no student directly has to pay any money to the student association. The money is taken from student levies and payed via a service agreement to the association. I worry that as written this clause might permit that to continue. Still such things can always be fiddled with during the select committee process or via supplementary order papers if the Bill goes that far.