Another day; another protest

Stuff reports:

Students demonstrated at Victoria University today against education cuts and called for a national student movement in the wake of the violent arrest of 43 student protesters in Auckland last week.

Surrounded by five security guards but no police, about 100 Massey and Victoria university students gathered at the Kelburn campus at the Blockade the Budget demonstration.

Speakers also spoke in solidarity with Auckland University students, who organisers say were brutalised by police, after 43 Blockade the Budget protesters were arrested during a violent clash on Queen Street last week.

Victoria University history student Sam Oldham spoke to the crowd, calling for students across the country to mobilise behind the Auckland protestors against ''drastic cutbacks across the education sector.''

''We should not be afraid to blockade,'' Mr Oldham said.

He said Victoria University was ''notoriously repressive'' towards student radicals and said staff were ''living in a climate of fear.''

Students spoke about their experiences as tertiary students, struggles in education, and the work and job fears involved in studying at modern universities. 

"About 100" might be on the generous side; there certainly weren't thousands turned away; check this out:

Just as the protesters at Auckland University last week were spread pretty thinly, there doesn't seem to be overwhelming support for the Blockade movement in Wellington, especially given that today's protest represented students from both Victoria and Massey Universities. Are most students unconcerned by the government's budget decisions with regard to sudent loans and allowances, or are they simply apathetic?