Charities Commission should examine political student unions

student-choice

Fri Jun 03 2011 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Charities Commission should examine political student unions

Friday, 3 June 2011, 9:55 am
Press Release: Student Choice

Media release: Student Choice, 2 June 2011

Following the recent deregistration of Greenpeace, the Charities Commission should review the charitable status of various political compulsory student unions.

Compulsory student unions with charitable status include the Victoria University Students Association, the Otago University Students Association, the Waikato Students Union, the Massey University Students Association, and the Massey at Wellington Students Association.

Greenpeace was deregistered because of its political activities. Compulsory student associations are inherently political organisations. In recent years student association ‘charities’ have variously: • Lobbied politicians against freedom of association • Submitted to parliament in opposition to changes to labour legislation • Complained about the election of the National government in 2008 • Claimed they campaign for “left wing reform” • Picketed the office of a National party MP

There is also the ethical question of how groups with forced membership can have charitable status. By definition, charities rely on voluntary contributions of time and money. However compulsory student associations are funded by people who have not agreed to become members. Organisations that have to rely on compulsory membership should not be entitled to call themselves charities.

ends

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}

Using Scoop for work?

Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.

Join Pro Individual Find out more

Find more from Student Choice on InfoPages.