I'm not your - Critic

NEWs
By Callum Fredric
God is reportedly “gutted” after a bill
aiming to legalise gay marriage was pulled
from the Members’ ballot on Thursday. The
Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment
Bill was submitted into the ballot by Labour
MP Louisa Wall. The first reading of the bill is
expected to be held in around six weeks’ time.
At this stage, the bill seems likely to pass.
Major parties will almost certainly allow their
MPs to vote with their consciences, which
ensures the support of National’s liberal wing as
well as the Greens and the majority of Labour’s
By Bella Macdonald
Maria Pozza has been elected as OUSA’s
Postgraduate Representative after a fierce
campaign against bitter rival No Confidence.
In the final count, Pozza won with 70 votes,
compared with four votes for No Confidence.
Poor showing, old buddy.
Pozza believed that her PhD would make
her a great candidate, and campaigned on the
basis that “it would be both a pleasure and a
privilege to utilise my diplomatic, organisational,
and motivational skills to represent our collective
interests.”
The by-election came after the recent
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lAvenDeR ARMAgeDDon BegIns
MPs. The Campaign for Marriage Equality
recently surveyed MPs as to how they would
vote at the bill’s first reading. Of the 72 who
replied, only 16 would vote “no”. The naysayers
include Hone Harawira, Peter Dunne, Labour
MPs Damien O’Connor and Ross Robertson, and
several National and NZ First MPs.
Four other bills were also drawn from the 62
in the ballot, including Labour MP for Dunedin
North David Clark’s Minimum Wage Amendment
Bill, which proposes lifting the minimum wage to
$15 per hour from its current rate of $13.50. The
bill is likely to be shot down by the Government
at first reading.
departure of ex-Postgrad Representative Victoria
Koszowski at the end of last semester.
Another departure from the OUSA executive
was also announced early last week. Aaspreet
Boparai resigned from his position as Education
Officer due to “personal family reasons”. In a
press release he announced that he “was sorry
to be leaving.”
Speaking to Critic, Boparai rejected any
suggestion that the constant exodus of Exec
members was a sign that all is not well within the
boardroom, saying his resignation had “nothing
to do with the operation of OUSA”. OUSA President
Logan Edgar showed some emotion while
commenting on Boparai’s resignation, stating:
Another bill drawn from the ballot was
Labour MP Clayton Cosgrove’s State-Owned
Enterprises and Crown Entities (Exercise in
Utter Futility) Bill. If passed, the bill would make
asset sales require either a 75 percent majority
in Parliament or a referendum. Given that it goes
against one of the Government’s major policy
platforms as well as fundamentally undermining
the principle of Parliamentary Supremacy, which
provides that Parliament should not entrench
legislation in order to bind future Parliaments,
the bill has about as much hope of passing as
a linguistics student with Wernicke’s aphasia.
oUsA RevolvIng DooR KeePs on tURnIng
critic.co.nz
oooh, it’s scratchy!
“He didn’t want to go but he had to go. That’s life.”
Boparai denied Critic’s completely unfounded
implication that he had been touched inappropriately
by Edgar during his time on the Exec.
After this string of resignations, questions
have arisen over Edgar’s ability to hold together
the OUSA Executive for the rest of the semester.
Edgar admitted that “some people might think
things might not be all peachy, but they’re really
pretty fucking sweet to be honest.”
As for the prospect of yet another by-election,
Edgar stated he hoped there would be a lot
of interest in the Education Officer position: “It’s
a sweet gig.”