Clayton Mitchell New Zealand First MP

The Student Loans Scheme was really that – a scheme. We now have an opportunity to right one of the great wrongs of recent NZ history, with the introduction of NZ First's Up Front Investment Tertiary education policy. This blue government has never had the interests of students in mind on education policy, and the red and blue alternating governments before it saw education as a cost with limited benefits for NZ and Kiwis. Neither red, nor blue have thought about the future of our country, or the financial futures of the individuals who invest their time, developing knowledge and skills while earning tertiary qualifications.

So it's not surprising when many head overseas after graduation, using their skills and knowledge to make another country a better place, trying to earn enough to pay back a loan from a government that didn't show it valued them up front.

Point 5 of our 15 Fundamental Principles shows NZ First has always held that "Educational advancement is both in the national and in the individual interest".