Jack CloseJack Close

Jack Close is a public policy and economics student based in Wellington

Forget cancelling student fees. Let’s focus instead on fixing student welfare

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With three out of the five parties in parliament keen on some form of free tertiary education, reform seems inevitable. That might be great news for graduates, writes Jack Close, but for students it’s a raw deal. In June of this year I finished university with a student loan with way too many numbers at … Read more

So it’s unanimous: all parties want to act for students, and the minister must respond

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The National Party has voted: something needs to be done to improve students’ welfare. A new consensus has been formed, which may change the lives of struggling students across New Zealand, writes Jack Close Three months ago, I launched a lobby group named the Aotearoa Students’ Alliance to advocate for change to student welfare law. … Read more

More must be done to meet NZ’s climate challenge – but slashing agriculture isn’t the answer

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As emitter-in-chief Donald Trump pulls out of the Paris Climate Accord, the time has come for a top-down approach to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. Jack Close explains. Environmentalists are quick to sing out about New Zealand’s excessive greenhouse gas emissions – and rightly so. In the large part, we are a gas-guzzling, river-polluting, plastic-bag-wasting … Read more

The student living costs loan is no match for sky-high rents. It needs to be raised, now

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The living costs loan is designed to keep students housed and fed, but in our biggest cities it rarely even covers rent. That’s where a new lobby group for legislative reform to improve students’ welfare comes in, says Jack Close, the group’s founder. Living costs are a student loan administered by StudyLink to cover “day … Read more

‘The idea of living costs is that you’re supposed to live off it.’ An argument for letting students borrow more

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The problem with the living costs loan isn’t just that it’s too low, says university student Jack Close. It’s how it unfairly advantages those who need the help least. It’s been nearly three years since I awkwardly navigated the StudyLink website for the first time. Moving to Dunedin from my middle-class home in Wellington, I … Read more

The doctor won’t see you now: on NZ’s shameful mental health wait times

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In the midst of a suicide crisis, why are people waiting so long for mental healthcare? Jack Close attempts to find out. Two months ago I stood up to walk to the bathroom and felt nagging pain in my right testicle. After two weeks of ferocious Googling and panicking over questionable WebMD diagnoses, I gave … Read more

On the growing black market for domestic air travel – and why airlines should take it over

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Opinion: An illicit market has emerged for on-selling plane tickets, but instead of suffocating the idea, the airlines should be running it themselves, writes Wellington student Jack Close. My time as a student away from home at the University of Otago can be summarised simply: $500 return flights. Motivated by the “beauty of the price … Read more