Improving What We Have

President of the Tertiary Education Union at Victoria University, senior lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy, Sandra Grey writes that calling for expatriate New Zealanders to put money into the tertiary sector is possibly a good thing, but telling them to invest in a showcase private university is misguided. In New Zealander Michael Parker’s newly-released book The Pine Tree Paradox: Why creating the New Zealand we all dream of requires a great university, Parker argues that New Zealand needs a world-class university on Auckland’s waterfront and encourages private funding to help move the nation’s tertiary system from good to great. While these statements on tertiary education are contentious, Parker also stresses that innovation is the best way to enhance the future of New Zealand. “We need to become a global hub of innovation,” Parker says in an August speech. “That will take 2 or 3 years, but we need to do it anyway.” Parker believes that while New Zealand needs to look to the future, the nation must begin working towards this goal now due to the countries current strong economic position.