Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce is reserving judgement on proposed voluntary student membership legislation until select committee hearings on the issue are over.
During a keynote address to the New Zealand Union of Students' Associations (NZUSA) national conference at the University of Otago yesterday, Mr Joyce said he had not made any decision about whether the proposed legislation or some other form of voluntary membership should be supported.
"You have been working very hard to get your views across to the select committee," he told about 90 student representatives from throughout the country.
"My natural inclination is that nobody should be forced to belong to anything," Mr Joyce said.
However, there were "some practical considerations" and at this stage he was "just listening to the debate", he said.
In a later interview, Mr Joyce said he acknowledged "there's some things that would not happen if students' associations weren't able to provide them".
The education and science select committee is considering more than 400 submissions on the Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill, most of them opposing it.
This Bill, sponsored by Act New Zealand MP Sir Roger Douglas, aims to uphold students' rights to freedom of association by "ensuring that no student is compelled to join a students' association", according to the Bill's explanatory note.
During a wide-ranging address, Mr Joyce said the Government had limited funds and a key focus at this stage was on gaining more value for New Zealand, including for students, from about $4 billion which the Government spent on the tertiary sector each year.
In another session yesterday, co-author John Ong discussed the findings of an earlier PricewaterhouseCoopers report, which analysed the "input value" of students' associations and the potential effect of voluntary student membership.
NZUSA co-president David Do said if the proposed legislation became law, it was also likely to damage Dunedin's lucrative tertiary education industry.
This was because OUSA and the Otago Polytechnic Students Association contributed strongly to the city's attractive student atmosphere and also encouraged responsible drinking.
If the proposed legislation resulted in the two associations being unable to deliver the same quality of student services, Dunedin's university and polytechnic would become less attractive to prospective students, including from overseas, he warned in an interview.
The extensive opposition to the Bill and the growing complexities of the situation were reflected in the select committee's delayed reporting time to the House, from May 30 to September 30, he said.
The conference ends today.
