A vision for NZ: A safe place where everyone can prosper
Opinion by Bruce Cotterill
Bruce Cotterill is a professional director and adviser to business leaders. He is the author of the book, The Best Leaders Don't Shout, and host of the podcast, Leaders Getting Coffee.
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THE FACTS
Last week, I managed to get myself caught up in a lively conversation with a couple of mates. It wasn't heated. But it was one of those discussions that no one was going to win.
And then there was the debate after the Budget. The same word
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Otago Daily Times
10 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Anger over axing of scholarships
Top students will abandon the University of Otago after a shock decision to axe scholarships, the institution has been warned. Staff and students were informed of the cuts to doctoral scholarships in an email from vice-chancellor Grant Robertson this week. "We are now in a situation where, if we continue to award scholarships using our current approach, what is set to be a tight 2026 scholarship budget ... will likely be required entirely to fund students already studying with us now or who will have started based on 2025 offers," the email says. "A consequence of that situation would be that, to stay within budget, there would be no funding for new scholarship offers in 2026. This is a position I want to avoid. " Mr Robertson's email also referred to the difficult financial environment the university was facing: "Both at Otago and nationally we face tightening research funding and significant strategic shifts in the external landscape". Otago University Students' Association president Liam White said the announcement was "a huge shock, and frankly, disappointing". "It seems like all of this has happened rather quickly, without a ton of notice, and I am concerned for the students that potentially have planned the next three years of their life and now, for whatever reason, aren't able to get a scholarship." An Otago University spokeswoman said the decision was expected to mean a reduction of about 50 doctoral scholarships in the coming months. It still expected to award 140 of the scholarships this year. OUSA postgraduate representative Josh Stewart said he was absolutely livid at the university's "short-sighted decision making" and the lack of communication. "I really feel for all the students who consistently have to deal with the university system, where the ballpark keeps changing, and they don't get any say in the matter." Many students he had spoken to about the changes were now considering studying elsewhere, he said. "Otago is always having to compete with doctoral scholarships overseas ... If they, however, stay at Otago, one would think that a degree of loyalty will be rewarded, but now the rules have changed again." Green MP Francisco Hernandez had also seen the email. He said the announcement was the natural result of the government's Budget decision to cut overall tertiary funding by $162 million. "We are already experiencing a mass exodus of some of our best and brightest young people. These short-sighted cuts risk leaving communities like Dunedin as hollowed-out husks." MPols student Lindsay Roberts was among many students concerned about their academic future at Otago University. "I think for me and anyone considering doing a PhD in the future it kind of changes the incentive, to progress your career and progress your academic journey, you do want some kind of financial support as there is a big financial risk. "It pushes the incentive elsewhere — I've discussed going to Waikato University," Mr Roberts said. Former Otago University academic Prof Robin Gauld, now executive dean of Bond Business School at Bond University in Queensland, said he was aware of the concerns among the professoriate at his former university. "Good PhD students are incredible. They go on to be stellar academics, and they're incredibly productive. "So they build reputation and they build a research pipeline. They are a pretty important piece of the university's lifeblood, really." Mr Robertson's email said the September and November Graduate Research Committee doctoral scholarship panels and award rounds would be cancelled. Students who met the academic criteria for an automatic scholarship award would still be accepted and it would follow through with offers to those approved at the most recent (June) meeting of the Graduate Research Committee and the agreed Maori and Pacific Strategic awards. "Our budget for 2026 must continue the path to reducing our deficit and returning us to a financial surplus, as required by the Tertiary Education Commission." A university spokeswoman said it forecast spending about $19.77m on doctoral scholarships this year, slightly above last year's spend of $18.26m. It declined to give a projected spend for next year, other than to say it was "certainly no more " than this year. It did not expect the change to affect its reputation. "This is a temporary pause on new doctoral scholarship offers. We have hundreds of doctoral scholarship students studying at Otago, and we will be awarding more scholarships this year and next year."
Scoop
3 days ago
- Scoop
HTP Change Aimed At Stopping Smoking
Hon Casey Costello Associate Minister of Health The Government's move to reduce the excise on Heated Tobacco Products (HTPs) is about getting more people to quit smoking, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said today. 'The Labour Party and some people in RNZ are fixated on tobacco companies,' Ms Costello says. 'What Ayesha Verrall has said about the cost and benefit of this policy is completely untrue. 'We want people to stop smoking, and the contingent liability forecast by Treasury will only happen if a lot of people quit smoking and the Government's revenue from tobacco excise reduces significantly because of this. 'Obviously if that happens it's a good thing for smoking rates and peoples' health. Last year, a change was made to halve the excise duty on heated tobacco products (HTPs) to see if that might encourage cigarette smokers to switch to a less harmful product. There was to be an evaluation of the change after a year, but because of vaping regulation changes, HTP devices were withdrawn from the market for some of the year. HTPs are now back on the market and the review has been extended to July 2027 as there will be more data available. Last year's cabinet paper included preliminary modelling from the Ministry of Health showing 7,200 people quitting smoking in the first two years from the excise change. It also included estimates of the potential costs from reduced revenue from tobacco excise from people no longer smoking, and from the excise reduction on HTPs. These were included in the Budget documents as contingent liabilities to recognise the potential impact on the Government's accounts. 'What Labour and RNZ are saying is incredibly misleading,' Ms Costello says. 'To be absolutely clear, this is no 'tax break' for the industry. 'I said at the time and continue to say that our drive is to stop smoking. We are trying to see if HTPs can play a similar role to vaping and provide an alternative product and way to quit for smokers. 'We've made great progress in reducing smoking rates and with particular groups like young people and most smokers are now long-term and older and we need to try different ways to help them. 'While a full evaluation of this policy is two years away, I have asked the Ministry of Health to ensure that the excise reduction in HTPs continues to be passed on to consumers.' The Ministry of Health has also established an expert advisory group to look at improving the regulatory regime around all nicotine and tobacco products. The group includes representatives from Health Coalition Aotearoa, ASH, Vape Free Kids, Cancer Society, Heart Foundation, Hāpai te Hauora, the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation, Auckland and Otago Universities and other experts and is due to report to the Minister before the end of the year.
Newsroom
4 days ago
- Newsroom
Govt KiwiSaver cut ‘final nail in the coffin' for self-employed
Self-employed New Zealanders are re-thinking their retirement savings schemes after the Government slashed its KiwiSaver co-contribution in the Budget. Data compiled from accounting fintech Hnry's latest sole trader pulse check highlights negativity following the change, with 52 percent of the 502 self-employed workers polled, actively opposing the cut. Forty-three percent say it will alter their saving behaviour and 24 percent plan to reduce their contribution as a result of the change.
