Alliance goes solo on student dole

By AUDREY YOUNG political reporter

The Alliance is publicly campaigning to win $11 million from Government coffers for the reinstatement of the emergency unemployment benefit for students next summer.

It is also the hook for a campus recruitment campaign, called Staunch, for the Alliance youth branches.

Labour promised to restore access to the benefit when it was in Opposition in 1998 but it was not part of the party's policy last election nor has it been in Coalition plans since then.

Playing down Opposition accusations of a Coalition rift, Alliance president Matt McCarten says the campaign is being driven by the party, not the parliamentary wing.

In Parliament yesterday, National's Simon Power tabled details of the campaign presented to the party's strategy committee about three weeks ago.

The paper said the aim was to recruit 100 new student members, get 1000 names and addresses via the campaign, and "brand the Alliance as actively supporting concerns of students."

The cost of the campaign was $18,152, including banners, leaflets, placards, posters, postcards, advertising and hall hire.

Mr McCarten said the proposal was changed and split into two strands. One was a $10,000 drive, financed by the party, promoting the emergency benefit.

The other was a tour of campuses by Alliance leader Jim Anderton and Women's Affairs Minister Laila Harre to talk about their role in the Government. This would be paid for from their ministerial budgets.

Mr Power said the campaign was evidence of a rift between the Alliance and Labour.

"Despite Steve Maharey's 1998 promise to re-introduce the emergency unemployment benefit, he has failed to do so.

"Labour and the Alliance have been using student politics as a way of raising students' expectations, but have continually failed to fulfil them," Mr Power said.

Mr McCarten said Labour had been told of the emergency benefit campaign.

He said the issue was not subject to the formal "agree to disagree" understanding between Alliance and Labour.

This was invoked last year over the closer economic partnership with Singapore.

It was more like paid parental leave, an issue on which the party would apply pressure for a decision to be made.

Mr McCarten also led the party's submission to the health select committee last year which criticised aspects of a Government-sponsored health restructuring bill.

Mr Maharey said the Government's priority was to ensure students had summer jobs over the holidays.

It had begun that process by giving $3 million more to Student Job Search over four years.