<I>

  <&>Wellington Corpus of Spoken New Zealand English Version One</&>
  <&>Copyright 1998 School of Linguistics & Applied Language Studies</&>
  <&>Victoria University of Wellington</&>

  <&>side one</&>
  <&>1:55</&>
  

  <WSC#MST030:0005:JR>
      i can't remember a time when our expectations have hung so
      fearfully upon the annual budget <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0010:JR>
      despite the alarums and excursions of the years since the first
      DOUGlas budget nineteen ninety one promises to confront us
      conclusively with the bleak bill of our economic decline <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0015:JR>
      nor can i recall a prime minister who has chosen so firmly to be
      our harsh instructor in the realities of this GLOOmy prospect

  <WSC#MST030:0020:JR>
      by and large prime ministers like to woo the electorate and
      comfort the backbenchers with visions of good times to <drawls>come</drawls>

  <WSC#MST030:0025:JR>
      even sir robert muldoon found it necessary to subdue his
      minatory function as minister of finance with the brave hopes of
      think big

  <WSC#MST030:0030:JR>
      mister bolger clearly believes that the last illusions of the
      comfortable past must be swept away

  <WSC#MST030:0035:JR>
      the historical path is relentlessly downward and all the
      palliatives conjured up to persuade us that the painless social
      engineering will turn us back towards the light have failed <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0040:JR>
      it's <&>3:00</&> remarkable that the prime minister has foregone
      the usual cheap partisan shots

  <WSC#MST030:0045:JR>
      he does not single out the labour party accepting that our <.>m</.>
      economic maladies were clearly apparent by the midseventies and
      that both parties evaded the challenge <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0050:JR>
      since he became a prominent member of the longest serving
      government of that era and in opposition was party to the
      policies that won an election and can no longer be sustained he
      cannot and DOES not seek to evade his share of the blame <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0055:JR>
      for my part though i do not necessarily accept the logic of the
      solutions that seem to be waiting in the wings for the drama of
      the budget debate i have to admire the hardihood with which he
      confronts the rage of voters and the widening dismay of his own
      parliamentary supporters <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0060:JR>
      in general the basic lesson is clear

  <WSC#MST030:0065:JR>
      as a poor country our best hope is to attract productive
      investment by offering cheap weakly unionised labour disciplined
      to accept arduous and insecure <&>4:00</&> conditions of work

  <WSC#MST030:0070:JR>
      this will also be a key factor in reducing the rate of inflation
      and will be buttressed by steady reduction of government
      expenditure on welfare social services construction projects and
      public debt servicing <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0075:JR>
      a low tax regime arguably mister bolger's most passionately
      defended bastion will be popular with investors will also wean
      us away from the habit of quick fixes from the public purse to
      satisfy the plaints of electorally significant minorities <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0080:JR>
      as a complement to <drawls>this</drawls> the pressure to create
      and sustain protection for industry through subsidy licence and
      tariff will be resisted

  <WSC#MST030:0085:JR>
      thus the market will reveal and prosper those enterprises which
      can sustain profitability against domestic and foreign
      competition <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0090:JR>
      this doesn't sound <laughs>much</laughs> like any sort of new
      zealand known to its citizens for the last century though it has
      been in the making since the bombshell of rogernomics

  <WSC#MST030:0095:JR>
      it's no wonder that there's a sharp increase in apprehension now
      that its painful <&>5:00</&> regime <,> <.>b</.> has become
      clear

  <WSC#MST030:0100:JR>
      in the main the argument centres upon equity

  <WSC#MST030:0105:JR>
      some beneficiaries have been reduced to poverty <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0110:JR>
      there's a fear that adequate medical treatment will be beyond
      the purse of the poor

  <WSC#MST030:0115:JR>
      promises made by the national party when sir robert mulDOON
      sought an electoral advantage over labour's new ZEALand
      superannuation scheme in nineteen seventy five will now be
      broken

  <WSC#MST030:0120:JR>
      the more recent promise to restore the guaranteed retirement
      income by removing labour's tax surcharge will apparently be
      vitiated by means testing

  <WSC#MST030:0125:JR>
      the new labour legislation has weakened the power of unions to
      protect employment conditions and intensified the trend towards
      greater disparity in incomes <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0130:JR>
      the vision of an egalitarian society is GONE sacrificed in the
      opinion of many to a blinkered reliance upon unregulated market
      forces

  <WSC#MST030:0135:JR>
      there are however powerful arguments that equity is itself the
      grand illusion

  <WSC#MST030:0140:JR>
      while it may be true that new <&>6:00</&> zealanders enjoyed
      full employment and relative prosperity for many years after the
      war the dominance of the state in regulation income transfers
      and in resource development merely created favoured minorities
      who assiduously promoted their various forms of protection at
      the expense of the vast body of citizens <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0145:JR>
      i was discussing this subject recently with a friend who's been
      in the best POSSible position to follow the course of the
      repeated uncoordinated and unequal interventions of the state
      <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0150:JR>
      he grew increasingly agitated as he described the fat cats with
      institutional access to those who could provide economic
      advantages which served only to increase costs and to subsidise
      the affluent

  <WSC#MST030:0155:JR>
      he's an economist and thus a devotee of the market

  <WSC#MST030:0160:JR>
      but he's also a benevolent intelligent and informed pragmatist
      <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0165:JR>
      i found it hard to refute his arguments

  <WSC#MST030:0170:JR>
      that with the steady movement towards lower prices for our
      agricultural trade the moment of truth for a confused
      inefficient and ultimately delusive pursuit of equity was bound
      <&>7:00</&> to arrive <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0175:JR>
      now all this is a matter of degree

  <WSC#MST030:0180:JR>
      noone suggests the state will retreat entirely from the
      promotion of equity

  <WSC#MST030:0185:JR>
      only a savage autocracy could do so

  <WSC#MST030:0190:JR>
      social welfare benefits may be reduced but they will not be
      eliminated

  <WSC#MST030:0195:JR>
      public health services may be curtailed and a greater share of
      health expenditure may be met from the private sector but the
      hospitals will continue to operate and the practitioners' fees
      will be subsidised <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0200:JR>
      of course the demeaning practice of means testing may have to be
      reinstated

  <WSC#MST030:0205:JR>
      if my friend is right about the inevitable plundering of the
      public purse all we can hope for is that the bill will be
      significantly smaller <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0210:JR>
      what we are REALLY confronted with is the need to identify the
      extent of the public interest in particular objectives the
      degree to which action by the state is NEcessary and therefore
      properly funded from the public purse <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0215:JR>
      this balanced approach will take time to achieve

  <WSC#MST030:0220:JR>
      in a crisis and we have BEEN in a crisis effectively ever
      <&>8:00</&> since sir robert muldoon sought a dissolution in
      nineteen eighty four the drive to innovate as the full impact of
      economic failure becomes increasingly apparent has made EACH
      solution revolve around the <.>mi</.> limitation of state action
      <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0225:JR>
      <O>tut</O> this is both natural and misleading

  <WSC#MST030:0230:JR>
      reform is certainly necessary but in time it will be seen that
      much that has been thrust inCONtinently into the private sector
      would have been better left in the public domain

  <WSC#MST030:0235:JR>
      the rush to diminish the state's responsibilities has gone too
      far for the public good

  <WSC#MST030:0240:JR>
      there's no space to cover the whole field but as a telling
      example we may gain insight by considering the vital and
      perplexing <&>pronounced as perpexing</&> function of tertiary
      education

  <WSC#MST030:0245:JR>
      we can assume that all agree with the proposition that effective
      tertiary education is essential for a community seeking a
      productive innovative economy and a diverse stimulating social
      life <O>tut</O> <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0250:JR>
      these are virtues that must attract the support of any electable
      government

  <WSC#MST030:0255:JR>
      we also know that the majority but by no means ALL tertiary
      students <&>9:00</&> enrol shortly after completing their
      secondary education

  <WSC#MST030:0260:JR>
      MANY remain dependent upon their parents for their incomes until
      they complete their qualifications while some manage to secure
      parttime work usually in the long vacation this is becoming
      increasingly difficult to find

  <WSC#MST030:0265:JR>
      a substantial fee is required at enrolment

  <WSC#MST030:0270:JR>
      the student equipped with a respected qualification may
      reasonably expect to commend more highly paid employment than
      someone with no tertiary <.>ele</.> qualification <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0275:JR>
      <O>swallows</O> <O>tut</O> for those who aspire to many fields
      of employment a recognised qualification is either a mandatory
      prerequisite <drawls>or</drawls> so commonly demanded that
      employment is highly unlikely to those without <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0280:JR>
      since such positions are often the means of access to the higher
      reaches of remuneration tertiary qualification can be seen to
      offer considerable economic advantage <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0285:JR>
      now before considering the issues remember that large
      institutions are <&>10:00</&> complex affairs that cannot be
      turned on and off like a machine

  <WSC#MST030:0290:JR>
      a substantial sudden change in their method of operation may be
      disastrous over generations

  <WSC#MST030:0295:JR>
      once run down in staff and students a tertiary institution
      cannot be quickly restored to confident operation

  <WSC#MST030:0300:JR>
      <O>tut</O> it's clear that the present government is
      contemplating changes in the way tertiary institutions acquire
      their resources

  <WSC#MST030:0305:JR>
      whatever they may do one can only hope that they move gradually
      and cautiously measuring the impact of their changes on the
      institutions as they take effect

  <WSC#MST030:0310:JR>
      when social welfare benefits were reduced some time ago the
      government indicated that those on higher incomes could be
      expected to make their own contribution to reducing government
      expenditure <O>inhales</O> by being required to meet a larger
      proportion of the costs of public services

  <WSC#MST030:0315:JR>
      the minister of education has now suggested that the fees for
      higher education exacted from students should be increased
      substantially <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0320:JR>
      given the circumstances of most students this means in practice
      that their parents will have to give or lend the money to their
      <.>s</.> children <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0325:JR>
      the <&>11:00</&> minister gave assurances that those students
      who had insufficient income to contribute substantially to the
      fees could expect to receive government assistance <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0330:JR>
      thus the means test is considered to be appropriate in this
      field as well as social services <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0335:JR>
      <O>tut</O> if one takes the view based on narrow considerations
      of equity this seems fair

  <WSC#MST030:0340:JR>
      beneficiaries are hurting so why not those who hope to ensure
      that their offspring get an educational kickstart in the
      economic rat race <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0345:JR>
      the economy benefits from reduced taxation so attractive to
      foreign investors whose children will be no doubt educated
      elsewhere <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0350:JR>
      but let's look more closely at this question of equity

  <WSC#MST030:0355:JR>
      will there be an infinitely variable scale rising from the solo
      single parent with a cleaning job whose bright daughter shows
      academic ability up to say one of the lords of the stock market
      whose son and only child wishes to take a music degree at
      victoria's <&>12:00</&> noted music department

  <WSC#MST030:0360:JR>
      does the stockbroker pay the full cost of tuition while his old
      mate at the treasury very comfortably off at half the
      stockbroker's income pays two thirds of the fees for the
      polytech design course followed by his son and half those for
      his daughter's medical course at auckland

  <WSC#MST030:0365:JR>
      in the meantime what happens to his brother who has five bright
      children but as a schoolteacher in winton is just over the bar
      for those who can look to scholarship assistance <&>pronounced
      as assistant</&>

  <WSC#MST030:0370:JR>
      just what proportion is equitable in doctor lockwood smith's
      calculation and HOW to use a term from greek philosophy is
      distributive justice to be done <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0375:JR>
      the fact is that we have no cultural preparation for privately
      funded tertiary education

  <WSC#MST030:0380:JR>
      parents have not saved and invested for this generational
      expense as they do in the united states <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0385:JR>
      to the thousands of parents who are at best just getting by a
      great increase in fees would be a crippling burden <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0390:JR>
      moreover there's practically no tradition of private benefaction
      <&>13:00</&> for university expansion and little chance that it
      will be forthcoming

  <WSC#MST030:0395:JR>
      any substantial move towards private funding must be risky

  <WSC#MST030:0400:JR>
      remember two major interests are at hazard the first is the
      generation of students already beset by the problems of
      underfunding of buildings and staff <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0405:JR>
      they're cut off by economic decline from the financial
      supplement of casual labour <,> and they face uncertainty of
      future employment

  <WSC#MST030:0410:JR>
      we need desperately to make a new enterprising and inventive
      society

  <WSC#MST030:0415:JR>
      tertiary education is not a sufficient condition for this but
      it's certainly a necessary one

  <WSC#MST030:0420:JR>
      it's essential also that a sufficient breadth of opportunity
      should be retained to counter the inequality that the current
      reform process is encouraging

  <WSC#MST030:0425:JR>
      professor lauder of the education department at victoria
      university of wellington is reported as saying that new zealand
      will soon have a market led system only one step from full
      privatisation in which choice will be available for the few who
      can afford it

  <WSC#MST030:0430:JR>
      while for the rest equality of <&>14:00</&> opportunity and
      standards of education will decline in a highly stratified and
      rigid education system

  <WSC#MST030:0435:JR>
      will the CHOOSERS with every advantage of better scholastic
      preparation and greater financial resources monopolise the
      places available to them in institutions of higher learning
      scrabbling for the student's dollar <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0440:JR>
      is it too late i wonder to revive the concept of a life cycle
      loan for higher education

  <WSC#MST030:0445:JR>
      if i'm to argue from the standpoint of equity i must admit that
      the taxpayer whose circumstances and aspirations preclude the
      possibility of tertiary study has some legitimate objection to
      the compulsory employment of his resources to provide education
      for a class of fellow citizens with much better employment <.>prospect</.>

  <WSC#MST030:0450:JR>
      a scheme that required graduates educated at the community's
      expense to accept an obligation to repay those costs by some
      scheme of graduated taxation loading may be practicable

  <WSC#MST030:0455:JR>
      of course one <&>15:00</&> can envisage problems of hardship and
      evasion but these should not be insurmountable

  <WSC#MST030:0460:JR>
      for one class of student i am particularly concerned although my
      feelings are not apparently shared by the minister of education
      <,>

  <WSC#MST030:0465:JR>
      not all students come to tertiary study directly from secondary
      school

  <WSC#MST030:0470:JR>
      in my experience an increasing number have come from that group
      who were denied the chance of advanced study earlier and have
      returned as what are rather primly known as mature students

  <WSC#MST030:0475:JR>
      many of these are women their child caring days over or nearly
      and their ambition to use their native talents newly revived

  <WSC#MST030:0480:JR>
      i can't speak for other teachers but for ME their presence in
      the classroom was a joy

  <WSC#MST030:0485:JR>
      they had overcome the condition that so often leaves new
      zealanders with GROSS incapacity for oral disputation

  <WSC#MST030:0490:JR>
      they read

  <WSC#MST030:0495:JR>
      they argue

  <WSC#MST030:0500:JR>
      they enlarge their confidence

  <WSC#MST030:0505:JR>
      many of them are now in demanding jobs where they <&>16:00</&>
      have succeeded brilliantly

  <WSC#MST030:0510:JR>
      should an insuperable financial hurdle now be set up to thwart
      their return to tertiary education it would be a crime against
      humanity

  <WSC#MST030:0515:JR>
      fortunately the minister of education was taught a sharp lesson
      on this subject when he made a fool of himself in an exchange
      with a mature student at the wellington polytech recently

  <WSC#MST030:0520:JR>
      we can hope that this experience might encourage caution when
      the government reviews the funding of higher education
      <&>16:25</&>
</I>
