POLTICIANS URGED TO “VOTE FOR STUDENTS” BY NUS

Tomorrow at 12pm, two Tasmanian Federal Labor Candidates, Jonathan Jackson for Dennison and Julie Collins for Franklin will be signing the Pollie Pledge at the University of Tasmania with a group of students.

The National Union of Students kicks off their election campaign

Vote for Students in Hobart on the 2nd of July, 2010.

The campaign objective is to compel politicians to sign a pledge, which commits them to use their vote and voice, if elected to parliament, for students.

The ‘Pollie Pledge’ sets out four key student issues that NUS will be mobilising students around in the 2010 federal election.

The pledge commits politicians to use their vote in parliament to:

• Fund universities

• Create a more equitable system of Youth Allowance

• Support student representative organisations

• Deliver affordable student accommodation.

In turn, students are asked to make a pledge of their own – that they will vote for candidates who have pledged their votes for students.

“Too often students feel like politicians and political parties do not prioritise the

issues of young people. Vote for Students puts our issues front and centre and

asks politicians to make a stand on our behalf,” said Carla Drakeford, President of the National Union of Students.

“This pledge is open to every candidate running in the federal election, and the names of candidates who have signed the pledge will appear on our website so students know who truly represents their needs,” she said.
Carla Drakeford National President National Union of Students