TurnRightThenLeft said "Past generations had the luxury of attending university and being financially secure without working a job or two."

Can I please say that this is overstated nonsense. Until the early 70's there was no free university and only the wealthy could attend. By the mid-80's, the money tap had been turned off again. One part of one generation had the luxury of free university entry (apart from the horrendous union costs) and the only ones who ever lived securely on government funding were living at home.

Anyway, turning to the article, the author writes about the students of Paris. Bingo. Youth unemployment is around 28% in France because the idiots believe the world owes them a living. So a craven government allows a mob of uneducated, spoilt brats terrorise them into maintaining bad employment policy instead of throwing them into gaol to get what the world does owe them. Well, thank God we won't have students rioting in Australia anymore.

Secondly, the author lists Gillard, Beazley, Abbott, Costello and Stott Despoja as alumni of student politics. I think I can rest my case right here. A greater pack of dorks and whackers its rarely been my pleasure to think about. From a whining left wing feminist with delusions of grandeur and poor policy skills to the vacuous captain of the girls hockey team in Parliament.

Well, I'm at work right now but, when I get home, I'll have a quiet drink to celebrate the death of student politics. The death of noise, bombast, left wing idiocy and arrant ignorance.

I just passed the UTS and saw posters everywhere glorifying Cuba and Hugo Chavez' Venezuela. I don't know where the author of this article gets the idea that the students' protests are being stifled or are being damaged by 'political correctness'. If there is any political correctness, it's the continuing glorification of communism/socialism, in spite of the 100 million victims of Mao, Stalin, Kim il Sung and many others, and the blindness for the abysmal state of human rights in dictatorships like Iran, North Korea, Cuba and many more, where any dissenting voice is still being stifled.

I for one do think it is a huge shame that student politics has declined. It's not just left politics- you don't hear right wing groups speaking out much either. Of course due to the lack of political debate, most students accept the status quo which is currently quite right wing, but they dont' identify themselves politically.
I think it's extremely sad because, as one person has pointed out already, these students will be some of the future leaders of the country and their understanding of world and national issues is extremely limited.
As a current University student, I often feel quite alienated when I want to discuss anything that might remotely relate to politics. I mean a girl in my sociology class did not even know what apartheid was! I don't think that this lack of interest in anything outside our own lives can possibly be taken lightly.

cheers kevin. students, students, students. that's all we ever seem to hear. I have yet to encounter a student who pulls his/her own weight. where do all these students end up after graduation ? does anyone know what ridiculously small percentage of graduates actually become useful members of society ? most end up in bureaucratic positions which enables them to continue dreaming all day long. do you think a sensible section of society dreamed up political correctness. i don't think so. all the nonsensical crap that plagues our society comes from those idiological ignoramuses.

Pragma,

Comments such as yours are completely pointless and add nothing to any sort of meaningfull debate about the existance of student unions. However, in the interest of venting my spleen, I will retort:

"I have yet to encounter a student who pulls his/her own weight"
You must hang around the Eastern suburbs of Sydney or Peppermint grove in Perth as 70-80% of full-time students are, at any time in employment. In fact, many report an inability to keep up with course content due to the hours required to work to survive, and many live below the poverty line (see the senate report of student poverty for stats). With part-time students, the the ratio in emplyment is higher

"where do all these students end up after graduation ? does anyone know what ridiculously small percentage of graduates actually become useful members of society ?"

Ever visited a doctor, or been tended to be a nurse? Hired an accountant? Ever driven on a highway designed by an engineer? Or flown in a plane? How about Australia's commodities boom, driven by geologists, mathematicians and engineers. Former mine sites are rehabilitated by environmental scientists and engineers. The list is endless. All these professions had one thing in common, they were all students once. Many students, from a range of disiplines, got their ideas of social justice from student politics

"all the nonsensical crap that plagues our society comes from those idiological ignoramuses"
No. Nonsensical (sic) crap comes from ignoramuses with ill-thoughout opinions on things they know very little about. Not people who study for five years to become a doctor or journalist

^^^
Nice (and well deserved) smackdown Chris - couldn't have put it better myself!